Mobile Data Traffic Expected To Rise 40-Fold Over Next Five Years

As smartphones like the iPhone and Android take over the mobile Web, the amount of data traffic going over cellular networks is expected to grow 40-fold over the next five years. UK firm Coda Research Consultancy forecasts that in the U.S. alone mobile handset data traffic will grow from 8 petabytes/month this year to 327 petabytes/month in 2015. That amounts to a 117 percent compound annual growth rate.

A lot of that data will come in the form of mobile Web browsing, with the biggest contributor expected to be mobile video. By 2015, mobile video will account for 68.5 percent of all mobile data usage in the U.S. (or 224 petabytes/month). Coda estimates that 95 million mobile handset subscribers in the U.S. will be watching video on their phones in five years out of a total of 158 million mobile internet users.

Mobile data revenues (not including SMS charges) are forecast to make up 87 percent of all data revenue for the carriers by 2015. But they will have a hard time keeping up with demand unless they adopt tiered pricing, predicts Coda co-founder Steve Smith. Consumers used to all-you-can-eat data access from their phones will find that unappealing. But carriers will have to figure out a way to pay for massive network upgrades. Coda estimates that if the carrier’s froze their networks today, they would reach 100 percent utilization at peak capacity by 2012, when 40 percent of phones will be smartphones.

The table below shows some more forecasts from Coda on the number of U.S. mobile Internet users and the percentage of mobile data traffic coming from smartphones versus feature phones:

	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015
Mobile Internet users via handsets	84M	100M	113M	128M	145M	158M
Smartphone traffic as % of handset traffic	79%	90%	95%	97%	98%	98%
Feature phone traffic as % of handset traffic	21%	10%	5%	3%	2%	2%

http://techcrunch.com/2010/03/30/mobile-data-traffic-rise-40-fold/

RJC1000-Demo

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZbyrcXnDxPI

RjDj Now Lets You Create Your Own Trippy, Reactive Music For iPhone And iPad

Back in fall 2008, when the App Store was less than 100 days old, I wrote about an incredibly trippy and innovative application called RjDj (iTunes link). The app is a bit hard to describe, but it essentially takes audio or motion input from your iPhone, passes it through a variety of filters, and outputs music that’s customized to your surroundings (you really need to try it for yourself to see what it’s like). Now, RjDj is taking its application to the next level: the company has released a new desktop app called RJC1000 that allows Mac users to easily build their own reactive music for use on any of RjDj’s growing roster of applications.

To take a step back, when you use RjDj, you listen to what’s called a “Scene” — a combination of filters that determine what your reactive music sounds like. A Scene can pay attention to your iPhone’s microphone, accelerometer (so it can ‘hear’ motion), and even your GPS position. It then interprets those inputs to generate a dynamic music soundtrack. Scenes can vary a lot, ranging from pleasant rain drops to psychedelic audio warping that loops back everything you hear endlessly. With the RJC1000 app, you can customize Scenes to make them sound exactly like you want them to. You can get a feel for how this works in the YouTube video below.

I explored the RJC1000 app to try building my own sound Scene, and quickly came to the conclusion that I had absolutely no idea what I was doing. Fortunately that didn’t really matter — after dragging a few effects from the list of options onto the main sound board, I found myself listening to something best described as an auditory mix of running water, crickets, bongo drums, and a swarm of butterflies. I’m sure someone with more patience and skill could come up with something significantly more pleasant.

Alongside the new application, RjDj is launching the RjDj Network, which allows reactive musicians (this genre is called “reactive music”) to sell their creations to anyone using the RjDj iPhone application, via in-app purchases. RjDj is taking a 50% rev share of any Scenes sold. The company will also be launching an iPad application on April 3 called RJ Voyager that allows for playback of any Scenes from the RjDj Network, and also let users tweak Scenes on the fly, editing the effects they want playing as their music is generated in real-time.

RjDj founder Michael Breidenbruecker says that developers and musicians have previously been able to create their own Scenes using Pure Data, but that most of them found it too abstract to use (the screenshots I looked at were pretty daunting). The RJC1000 application uses the Pure Data DSP framework, but makes it significantly easier to build a Scene.  He says that beyond the iPad app, RjDj has other applications in the works that will support Scenes from the RjDj network.

 

http://techcrunch.com/2010/03/30/rjdj-now-lets-you-create-your-own-trippy-reactive-music-for-iphone-and-ipad/

Brightcove's New Tool Helps Build "Flashless," iPad-Ready Web

Video platform provider Brightcove just announced the launch of a new tool for website publishers called the "Brightcove Experience Framework for HTML5." The framework allows the company's 1,300 customers create HTML5-compatible websites for delivering video content to Apple mobile devices, including the upcoming slate computer known as the iPad, as well as the iPhone and iPod Touch.

There has been a lot of debate about the move to HTML5 for Web video support, an area previously dominated by Adobe Flash and its accompanying Web browser plugin. Some publishers claim making the switch is a burden while others, most notably Apple CEO Steve Jobs, say the move is "trivial." The truth, says Brightcove CEO Jeremy Allaire, is that "it depends." For some publishers using homegrown video solutions, building a new HTML5 website is indeed hard work, but for customers using platform solutions (like his, of course), the transition is much easier.

Flash and HTML5 Will Coexist, Says Allaire

"Transition" might be the wrong word for describing the launch of HTML5-enabled websites like those said to be coming from NPR, the Wall St. Journal, and apparently, CBS. Companies aren't just creating a new HTML5 website and discarding the older version - they're creating a second website to complement the first. And both websites will run side-by-side for years, says Allaire. He, of anyone, should know. Now the CEO and founder of Brightcove, Allaire's background includes a stint at Macromedia as the company's CTO prior to its acquisition by Adobe. While there, he actually helped build the original Flash platform.

Brightcove Aims to Close Gap Between Flash, HTML5 Feature Sets

The device driving the adoption of the upcoming Web standard known as HTML5, the core markup language used to create the pages of the World Wide Web, is the Apple iPad. Like its smaller mobile siblings, the iPhone and iPod Touch, the iPad won't support the Adobe Flash plugin.

Flash has long been a staple on the Web for things like video content, online ads and even casual games, but for various technological and political reasons, Apple does not support it on its mobile devices. According to Apple's CEO Steve Jobs, this isn't an issue, since creating websites using HTML5 technology is "trivial." To some extent, that's an accurate statement. Allaire confirms that at its most basic form, preparing a video and putting it on a webpage using HTML5 is not a difficult process.

The problem is that video publishers have come to expect more than just a simple video player like that what's offered via HTML5 in its current state. They're used to options like branded players, analytics, social media integrations, advanced player controls and other currently Flash-only options supported by Adobe's technology. Brightcove, however, aims to catch up with Adobe's feature set over the course of the year. At launch time, its HTML5 video player will support basic playback, auto device detection and H.264 encoding. In three months, more features will be added including "robust templates" to replace the basic ones available now, viewership reporting, advertising and more. And by the close of 2010, the company will offer publishers complete analytics, advertising and engagement features.

However, even when HTML5 video players reach a place where they're on par with what Adobe Flash can do, it will be years before publishers can discard their Flash-based websites. According to Allaire, the issue is that the percentage of Web browsers that support HTML5 is "tiny," and those that do so haven't yet settled on one video codec as the default. Until there's uniformity in the implementation of HTML5 video, publishers who need to reach 100% of their Web audience will offer multiple versions of their websites, dependent on what device, browser and operating system is in use by their website visitors.

The HTML5 Transition: A Burden on Publishers?

There is a lot of debate as to the burden created by the transition to HTML5 by media publishers. Some argue that the move is not difficult, time-consuming or expensive - and anyone claiming otherwise is spreading "FUD," (aka "fear, uncertainty and doubt"), a term used by tech geeks to deride these types of complaints as being non-substantive. Even Apple CEO Steve Jobs, reportedly trivialized publishers' concerns using, in fact, that very word ("trivial") ) when demonstrating the iPad to Wall St. Journal staff earlier this year.

On the flip side, others, including a number of media publishers who recently complained to Silicon Alley gossip and news site Gawker, say the argument has merit.

Where does Brightcove, then, stand on this issue? Allaire says that it depends on the video platform the Web publishers in question currently use. If they're on Brightcove or a similar platform solution, creating sites with HTML5 video content is a "publish once" process. However, those who have developed homegrown video publishing systems over the years will face more challenges. Lest you think this group includes just small-time players, Allaire rattled off a number of big names who do just that, including Disney, ABC, CBS, Yahoo and MSN.

HTML5 Solutions Abound

Allaire can't say how many of the company's 1,300 customers are planning their own iPad-ready sites since the tool was only made available to its publishers today. (Time and the NYT were the only publishers involved in the pre-release tests.) However, he can confirm that there is high demand from the company's customers, even saying that "almost all of the consumer-facing brands," specifically news magazines and TV brands, wanted a tool like this in order to create iPad-ready sites.

Brightcove isn't the only company to meet this growing need, either. Competitor Ooyala beat Brightcove to the punch in terms of being the first to announce iPad integration with its video platform, but Allaire said he can't compare their offering to his because the announcement on their end was "too vague." Outside of video platform solutions, projects like Jilion's Sublime Video will also allow publishers to create HTML5 video experiences while falling back to Flash for unsupported Web browsers. However, this solution doesn't - as least for now - offer all the features Brightcove says it will have in place by year-end.

When the iPad launches April 3, there will undoubtedly be a number of HTML5-ready websites ready for the new computing platform. But those that don't offer the same won't be in any immediate trouble for their decision (except for perhaps receiving a bit of bad press). Although the iPad is expected to land in the hands of a solid million or so users by the end of the first quarter, that pales in comparison to the 500 million broadband PC users who visit sites on a desktop-based Web. That being said, there's no doubt that Apple's choice to forgo Flash will impact the Web and the Web publishing industry for years to come.

Disclosure: The New York Times syndicates ReadWriteWeb content.

 

http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/brightcoves_new_tool_helps_build_flashless_ipad-ready_web.php

The iPad in Education: Colleges Give iPads to All Incoming Students

Seton Hill University plans to give every first year undergraduate student a 13" MacBook and an iPad. Just last month, George Fox University in Oregon also announced that it plans to give its new students a choice between a MacBook or an iPad. The question, though, is if programs like this aren't a bit premature, given that nobody has actually used the device yet and that we don't really know how well the iPad will work for textbooks and other school-related activities.

Can the iPad Succeed Where the Kindle Failed?

So far, Amazon's Kindle and other e-book readers haven't made a major dent in the textbook market and the early experiments with e-textbooks on the Kindle have been met with little success. At the same time, though, textbook publishers (who are always looking for ways to cut down on the used book market) will surely embrace the iPad, either by publishing books through their own apps and bookstores, or by releasing books through Apple's, Amazon's or B&N's e-book stores.

Interactive Textbooks

Given the amount of interactivity that's possible with books on the iPad, we can only hope that publishers will make good use of the device's capabilities. While just publishing a static book on the iPad might be good enough for some subjects, Penguin's recent demonstration of interactive books clearly shows the potential of interactive books on the iPad. At the same time, though, publishing textbooks is already an expensive business, so it remains to be seen how many interactive textbooks we will actually see.

(via: TUAW)

 

http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/the_ipad_in_education_colleges_give_ipads_to_all_incoming_students.php

iPad to Offer 30,000 Free e-Books at Launch

If you were concerned that you’d only be able to read things on your iPad if you ponied up some cash for the privilege, even if that amount turns out to be less than expected, worry no more. The NDA-busting source that’s been showing off all things iBooks to AppAdvice.com has revealed another tantalizing detail.

Specifically, it’s the news that the iPad will launch with 30,000 free e-books. That’s mostly public domain content, which you should technically be able to get on your device anyway with a little elbow grease, but it’s a great deal better being able to access the directly and wireless via the iBookstore.

The free books will be provided via Project Gutenberg, which has set about archiving digital editions of public domain books using the Internet. Any and all free titles will be DRM-free, as opposed to the DRM-enabled paid content.

More on iPad

• Ship Date for New iPad Orders Slips Mac Love
• iBookstore Pricing Leaked: Cheaper Than Expected Mac Love
• CBS Video Content Coming to the iPad Via HTML5? Mac Love
• Apple Dominates Mobile Internet Devices: Report Mac Love

 Apple’s decision to offer the books on launch day is seen as stemming from two major motivating factors. First, Apple wants to curtail any kind profiteering by third-party companies using public domain content. If you’ve glanced at the Books section of the App Store, you’ll see that quite a few developers won’t be pleased with this move, but I applaud Apple for putting the customers first.

Of course, Apple’s not acting purely out of concern for others. It’s also anxious about looking somewhat content-bare when the iPad does launch, at least regarding iBookstore content. 30,000 titles should flesh out the ranks nicely, even if some of Apple’s overtures to publishers providing paid content don’t come through on the day.

Now when it comes to apps, free ones do much better than their paid cousins. I’m curious to see if this trend continues with books. For whatever reason, I find myself shying away from public domain books on my Kindle, and I suspect the same will happen with the iPad. Any predictions regarding your own reading habits?

 

http://theappleblog.com/2010/03/26/ipad-to-offer-30000-free-e-books-at-launch/

Ship Date for New iPad Orders Slips

Facts, supposition, and rumors swirl around the iPad as the April 3 launch nears, the biggest news being Apple has pushed back ship dates for new orders.

As of Saturday, all new orders of Wi-Fi iPads show a ship date of April 12, and the option to reserve a Wi-Fi iPad for local Apple Store pickup has been discontinued. 3G iPads continue to show late April for shipping. Curiously, 9to5Mac has reports of Apple charging credit cards for both the Wi-Fi and 3G iPads, but those remain unsubstantiated rumors.

More substantiated are multiple reports that Best Buy will have a few iPads on April 3. TUAW reports that approximately 675 Best Buys will have just 15 iPads per store on April 3, with an additional 15 possibly coming the following week.

More on iPad

• iPad to Offer 30,000 Free e-Books at Launch Mac Love
• iBookstore Pricing Leaked: Cheaper Than Expected Mac Love
• CBS Video Content Coming to the iPad Via HTML5? Mac Love
• Apple Dominates Mobile Internet Devices: Report Mac Love

At this point it seems like Apple could be looking at an iPad sellout launch weekend, but what does that mean for you?

If you are a doubter, you might point to everyone’s favorite Asian Apple rumor site passing itself off as a newspaper. According to DigiTimes, Apple has been forced to switch its supplier of touch panels from TPK to Wintek. Of course, last month DigiTimes was blaming Wintek for the iPad launch being delayed until April.

Moving from wild rumors to educated guesses, Apple 2.0 has been following sales estimates from the AAPL Sanity Board at Investor Village. By tracking order numbers submitted by e-mail and accounting for other purchases, the estimated count for pre-orders is now 240,000. That number does not include in-store reservations, educational, and enterprise orders, but Boy Genius Report supposedly had a contact reporting 150,000 iPads reserved for pickup as of March 15.

Regardless of the pre-orders numbers, the slip in ship date by Apple makes it apparent the company is selling every iPad it can make. While that’s good for Apple, it’s bad news for those who haven’t ordered one yet. If you want a Wi-Fi iPad on April 3, your best bet is Best Buy in the morning and an Apple Store in the afternoon. Those who reserved an iPad at an Apple Store have until 3:00 to pick them up, or the units will be returned to the shelves, or more likely to the next person waiting in the “magical” line.

 

http://theappleblog.com/2010/03/28/ipad-orders-delayed/

Untethered Jailbreak

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=__TR86PLiHw&feature=player_embedded

Why Jailbreak an iPad?

Noted iPhone hacker George Hotz is teasing the web with a video that displays a new jailbreak for all iPhone and iPod Touch models, and maybe even the iPad, too, he says. This supposedly improved process (there's no code to examine yet) aims to solve a problem that came into play when updated devices like the iPhone 3GS and iPod Touch 3.0 were released. The issue? After performing the jailbreak on these newer devices, if you ever needed to reboot the phone, it had to be connected to your computer and the software that performed the hack would have to be re-run. No more, says Hotz.

While it's great to see such a notable improvement on the horizon, there's one big question that it brings to mind: who's going to jailbreak an iPad? And why?

Why People Jailbreak

Jailbreaking is a term that refers to a type of hack which opens up the mobile device to allow for the installation of unapproved third-party programs. It has become well known over the years as a method which provides access to pirated iPhone applications - versions of paid applications available for free download from special programs that can be installed on a jailbroken device. However, that's not the only reason that people jailbreak their iPhones and iPod Touches.

The main reason, many would argue, is not for free apps but for more apps - the kinds Apple doesn't approve of. Thanks to a highly-regulated iTunes App Store and the restrictions it imposes on developers, some of the best applications are available outside Apple's domain. Want to turn your iPhone into a modem providing Internet access to your laptop (aka "tethering")? Want to download YouTube videos for offline viewing? Want to tweak hidden settings on your phone? Transfer files with Bluetooth? Enable Flash? Skin the phone with a custom theme and icons? Run apps in the background? Filter phone calls? The list goes on and on.

And yet, while these hacks have great appeal to users of the small mobile devices, some of them will no longer be necessary on the iPad, Apple's upcoming slate computer whose launch is days away.

Why Jailbreak the iPad?

The ability to tether your iPhone to your laptop is one of the most popular reasons why people people jailbreak. However, on the iPad, you either have Wi-Fi only or you have 3G built in. Would you really need to tether your iPad to your notebook computer? Probably not. If you're carrying the iPad around, you probably left the notebook at home.

Another favorite among jailbreakers is an application called Winterboard. This theming app lets you redesign your iPhone's UI from icons to the background and even the battery icon and the "side to unlock" bar itself. On the iPad, though, users can now use any image as the iPad's background image instead of just on the lock screen as is done on the iPhone. While the iPad feature is obviously still much more limited in functionality, it will likely placate some of those who feel the need for just a tad more customization than is available on the iPhone itself.

Similarly, many of the jailbreaking apps that let you perform or tweak phone-related functions will no longer be necessary since the iPad is not a phone. Same goes for the camera apps - the iPad doesn't have one of those either. And Flash? Well, more and more sites are adopting HTML5 technology and with this, videos can be rendered plug-in free, just in time for iPad web surfers to enjoy.

So although there may end up being plenty of reasons to jailbreak the iPad, there will be - at least at launch time - far fewer reasons than on the iPad's sister devices like the iPhone and iPod Touch. But we wouldn't be surprised to see an ecosystem of rejected but still incredible and useful apps spring up over time. If there's ever an unfilled niche the iPad doesn't address, there will almost certainly be "an app for that." You just might not be able to get it at the iTunes Store.

 

http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/why_jailbreak_an_ipad.php

Apple Dominates Mobile Internet Devices: Report

The latest report (PDF) from mobile advertising network AdMob has good news for the company’s parent firm, Google, but greats news for Google’s mobile rival Apple.

For February, smartphone traffic share increased an astonishing 193 percent over the same period last year with a corresponding drop in feature phones. Half of that traffic belonged to Apple.

However, it should be noted those numbers aren’t market share, or web share, but ad share as measured by AdMob from data “pulled across ads served on more than 15,000 sites and applications,” half of which are from devices in North America.

Having disclosed all that, Apple is set to rule the mobile web. Just look at the graph and follow the thin blue line.

According to AdMob, the Mobile Internet Device (MID) represented 17 percent of traffic in February of 2010, up 403 percent year over year. Mobile Internet Devices include handheld gaming consoles from Nintendo and Sony and general purpose handhelds like the Zune HD. Apple’s iPod touch, according to AdMob, currently accounts for 93 percent of that traffic.

That’s not a typo, and while some might suggest that dominating percentage is hopelessly prejudiced by the data source, there is corroboration of a sort from Net Applications, which does track market share.

Leaving Java Mobile Edition out of the mobile OS pie because it fits better with feature phones, the remaining operating systems again demonstrate Apple’s dominance. The iPhone OS accounts for 60 percent of the market, while the iPod touch competing against smartphones is bested only by Symbian. Nintendo and Sony don’t even show up.

The downside is that not too long ago the wedge for Android didn’t exist, and more threateningly for Apple, Android share tripled from last month. AdMob backs up those gains, with Android now accounting for 25 percent of smartphone operating systems, up from just two percent last year, but that’s okay.

The hottest potential market isn’t smartphones, but Mobile Internet Devices. Apple effectively controls the market for handheld MIDs with the iPod touch, and 10 days from now that could happen all over again with tablets and the iPad. When Steve declared Apple a “mobility” company, it wasn’t the usual Jobsian hyperbole, but a declaration of the company’s business model going forward.

The future begins April 3.

 

http://theappleblog.com/2010/03/25/apple-dominates-mobile-internet-devices-report/

Apple Begins Offering iPhone 3G/3GS Without AT&T Contract

In what’s becoming the standard move for Apple as it approaches the launch of a new generation of iPhone hardware, the company has begun to offer the iPhone 3G/3GS for sale without contract at full price on its websites and at its brick-and-mortar retail stores. Without contract, but not unlocked, so don’t get too excited yet Sprint fans.

Of course, there are ways to unlock the iPhones that are simple enough for many computer users, but there lies the tricky mess of possibly voiding your warranty, so tread carefully. It’s likely you’re probably familiar with jailbreaking, risks and all, so I won’t belabor the point.

Buying the iPhone models off-contract won’t be cheap, since you don’t have a carrier helping out via a hefty subsidy, but as any contract-averse individual will tell you, you’ll end up paying far less for the hardware if you can avoid signing your life away for two whole years. Also you might sleep better at night knowing AT&T hasn’t successfully sunk its claws into you.

The now aging 3G 8GB iPhone will cost you $499, while the 16GB 3GS lists at $599 and the 32GB 3GS sells for $699 without subsidy. Those prices start to look a lot less reasonable now that Apple has announced the pricing for the iPad, even though when I bought the iPhone 3GS last year I had to pay full price since I was only a year into my three-year contract, it seemed perfectly fine to drop $700.

As for when you can get these unlocked devices, according to PC World, you might be able to do it right now. PCW writer Sarah Jacobsson called her local store and was told that they were already selling the devices unlocked. Apple hasn’t yet made an official announcement regarding the devices, or updated its web store to reflect the changes, but 9to5 Mac got early wind of the move, and Gizmodo later confirmed via official internal Apple documents.

It’s unclear exactly why Apple seems to do this every time the end of its current iPhone iteration is in sight, but a reasonable guess is that the company would like to sell off as many of the on-hand units it has before it has to deal with an influx of new 4th generation iPhone stock. Even if Apple plans to continue selling the iPhone 3GS alongside the next iPhone, which is likely considering the retention of the 3G last time as a low-priced budget option, Cupertino still probably wants to clean house and bolster sales ahead of the launch.

You’re only allowed to buy one per day, up to a maximum of 1o total phones, so if you’re aiming for an even dozen you’ll have to enlist the help of a friend.

 

http://theappleblog.com/2010/03/23/apple-begins-offering-iphone-3g3gs-without-att-contract/

Make Your iPhone® 4G

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TwV4XJJAAas

iPhone 4G Without AT&T?

For those of you who are just unimpressed with sub-4G speeds on your iPhones (or those who do not wish to upgrade to a new device), consider the Sierra Wireless Overdrive 4G WiFi hotspot by Sprint. Though coverage is not the best at the moment, Sprint continues to make inroads in expanding its network and the device is an interesting alternative to those who are frustrated with AT&T’s congested network.

Basically, this is a mobile router that taps into Sprint’s network and creates a local Wi-Fi hotspot for your device, thereby surpassing the technical limitations of the 3G chipset (or lack there of if you happen to have an older iPhone). The tradeoff is that you would still need an AT&T plan for phone features as the Wi-Fi merely supplements the data side. It’s also pricey, weighing in at $99.99 after $250 in discounts and rebates. The monthly plan at $59.99 per month includes unlimited 4G usage (with an ever increasing network) and 3G coverage at 5GB per month.

It’s also interesting to note that Sprint’s iteration of 4G is based on WiMax, which translates to a peak download speed of 10 megabits per second and an average speed of 3-6 megabits per second.

The great news is that this technology is also compatible with the iPad. Though it’s still a $30 premium over AT&T’s unlimited data plan (theirs at $29.99 a month), the speed difference may be of enough value to users. The Overdrive Mobile Hotspot also supports up to five simultaneous users, providing additional benefit and potential cost savings to users with multiple devices.

 

http://theappleblog.com/2010/03/23/iphone-4g-without-att/

Why Apple’s iPad Can’t Succeed in Schools (Yet)

Apple has started making the iPad available on its online education store in packs of 10 with an appallingly–stingy discount of only $20 per iPad. If Apple wants to start a computing revolution with the iPad, it absolutely must get the device into schools. But in order to do that, it’s going to have to try a lot harder, and generous discounts are the easiest problem to solve. There are much bigger hurdles standing in the way.

Let’s start with costs alone. Assume a school wants to buy an iPad for each of its students. Assume the school is small with only 300 children enrolled. Assume also that the school wants to buy the cheapest iPad without AppleCare. At a little more than $450 per iPad, that’s a cost of almost $144,000. I imagine the average state-funded school enjoys less than half that in its annual I.T. budget.

“Aha!” you might argue, “Many schools in underprivileged areas get subsidies from the state and provide laptops for their pupils.”

And, of course, you’d be right. Many schools do provide their students with free or ‘nearly-free’ laptops. But not decent laptops. We’re talking cheap, disposable netbooks that cost far less to insure against loss or damage. (Let’s be realistic – the younger the student, the greater the chance of laptop-death!)

No Competition

I graduated from High School back in the early 90s, and even then my school was considered ahead of the curve when it came to the adoption of computer technology in class. Even so, there were no Macs in my school. They were just too expensive. Here in the UK, the fierce battle in the 1980’s between Acorn, Sinclair, Atari, Amstrad and Commodore meant that there were many perfectly capable, cheap microcomputers available to schools. The Mac was superior to those machines in almost every way, but it couldn’t compete on price.

It has been 16 years since I graduated from high school. And while I’m happy to report that my old school now has iMacs in most classrooms, sadly they only run Windows XP.

The reason for this comes down to two simple factors; Cost, and What’s Best for the Kids. It seems more educational titles are available at lower prices on Windows than on Mac OS X. And, outside school, the kids encounter more Windows PCs than Macs.

So I look at the upcoming iPad and, even though I can see the potential it offers to schoolchildren (and the wider education market), I can’t help but wonder if it has any real chance of making a dent at this time. HP’s upcoming slate PC has more chance of being adopted by my old school simply because it works with all their existing software and runs Windows — the platform the school believes the pupils are better served knowing, rather than Mac OS X, which they have concluded is just too obscure and “specialist.”

And as though these fiduciary and policy-driven decisions aren’t bad enough, there’s another glaring challenge to getting the iPad widely accepted in schools; at the end of the day, it’s just not a book.

Delicate Issues

You see, tablets-as-books is a great idea until the battery dies, and then the student has no textbook and no computer. She will have to plug-in to a power outlet if she wants either of those things back. But consider the delicate health and safety issues associated with cable-safety in a classroom environment. Not to mention the maintenance costs (that’s a lot of power outlets being used more than ever before) and don’t forget the school will suddenly incur higher energy bills. Say what you will about a paper-textbook, at least it doesn’t need plugging-in.

And then there’s the issue of damage. What happens if an iPad screen is cracked? A damaged book cover doesn’t render the book’s contents inaccessible, nor is it likely to slice into fingers. Plus, the cost of a replacement book is trivial. Remind me how much the cheapest iPad is?

Oh, and let’s not forgot that Apple isn’t perfect. Remember when the iPhone OS was updated to 3.1 in September last year? I wrote about it here, and the comments quickly ran to over 100. iPhones everywhere were freezing, crashing, and generally just refusing to work, and all as a result of an official update from Apple itself!

What happens when Apple does the same thing with the iPad? Even the most diligent students who take the greatest of care with their always-charged-in-time-for-class iPads will suffer if an update from Apple proves flaky.

And, finally, there’s the matter of crime. No one ever wanted to rob a kid from my school. The only thing we ever carried in our bags was biology books and the occasional Thundercats pencil case. But what if my school handed-out iPads to its pupils? Overnight, the school uniform would become an advertisement to any would-be criminal; “mug this kid – expensive computer on-board.”

I’d dearly love to see all school kids and college students everywhere take-up iPads as their favorite learning tools. Sadly, I just don’t see how that can happen as long as they remain significantly more expensive than textbooks, more sophisticated than simple e-book readers and less resilient than the existing, proven toolset — traditional, dead-tree textbooks.

 

http://theappleblog.com/2010/03/24/why-apples-ipad-cant-succeed-in-schools-yet/

Instapaper Coming to the iPad

“Read Later – ⌘4”. I live my life by it. I find an interesting article but have no time to read it – ⌘4. A crazy-long message in Gmail that’s just perfect for, um, ‘bathroom reading’ – ⌘4. Pretty much anything that demands attention but can wait until I’m curled up in bed at the end of the day? ⌘4.

What’s all this ⌘4 stuff about? Why, that’s my browser shortcut to Instapaper by Marco Arment. Instapaper strips the text out of almost any browser page and stores it for later reading; for me, that’s usually via the Instapaper Pro app on my iPhone.

And now Arment brings us Instapaper for the iPad. I’ve never been more excited! On the Instapaper blog yesterday, Arment wrote;

I’m probably supposed to keep this secret and build everyone’s anticipation to hype this up. Oh well. Maybe I’ll do that for the Instapaper edition for Apple’s next revolutionary computing platform.

First: Instapaper is definitely coming to iPad.

Second: Instapaper is coming to iPad very soon. Possibly even on day one — yes, I’m going for it — but that’s optimistic.

Third: Instapaper Pro will be a universal iPhone/iPad application. That means that you only have to buy Instapaper Pro once to have it on both devices, and the iPad edition will be available to all Pro purchasers at no additional charge when it’s released.

You know that joy we all felt when Apple announced Snow Leopard would be super-duper-cheap? Remember the way you smiled when you heard the news, and felt a warm glow inside? That’s how I feel about Instapaper Pro on the iPad. I think I even went “Squee!” when I read Arment’s post. (I was alone, so no one knows I made a fool of myself. Oh, wait…)

Arment adds;

It looks like Instapaper Pro, but bigger, and with slight interface tweaks and redesigns where appropriate.

When everyone else was stalling their iPhone development for months in order to redesign entire applications for the iPad, I made the obligatory cardboard prototype and mocked up a bunch of radical interface departures.

Ultimately, none of them were very practical. Some worked well, but only with ideal content (which, in practice, is rarely the case except in the Editor’s Picks folder). And I didn’t want to commit to any huge risks because I don’t have an iPad to test them on.

And that’s the hurdle many iPad developers currently face. Any developer will agree it’s important to be in the iPad app store as close to Day One as possible, but all app development and testing is horribly crippled by the ‘little’ fact that no one has an iPad yet. Emulators and simulations are all very well and good, but nothing beats having the real thing to hold in one’s hands.

Supersize

What might seem like a great design decision or function implementation in a simulator may not work in ‘real’ life, on an actual hold-it-in-your-hands-and-swipe-with-your-fingers iPad. There’s a big difference between how we interact with a computer monitor, and how we interact with a magazine – and the iPad is the mongrel offspring lovechild of the two. (You know what I mean.) Truth is, no amount of cardboard dummy iPads and on-screen simulations will provide the same tactile feedback and degree of first-hand quality control offered by an actual iPad.

Some developers are no doubt hoping that the iPad’s super-size function (by which apps designed for the iPhone are displayed at more than double their original size on the iPad) will keep customers happy until they can get a real iPad and spend time properly (re)developing their apps for it.

So why didn’t Arment just let Instapaper Pro run in that supersize, double-pixel mode? After all, content in Instapaper is mostly text. No worries about pixelated graphics there, right?

Wrong. Arment fired up Instapaper in his iPad simulator. The result?

It sucked, and it was completely unusable by my standards…

While I could have taken the conservative option and waited until a month or two after the iPad’s release before launching Instapaper for it, an iPad without native Instapaper Pro is not a device I want to own.

Me neither. And, if early reports are accurate, neither will a lot of other people for whom the iPad is, for the most part, a reading device. According to a report today on TUAW, a comScore poll of prospective iPad customers revealed that 37 percent said it’s likely they’ll read books on the device; 34 percent were more certain, saying that they would use the iPad for reading magazines and newspapers.

For those of you, like me, who are using Instapaper heavily every day, the iPad is like a dream come true and I can say with certainty that catching up on all those ⌘4’d articles and web pages will be what my iPad is used for most often. And for the 34 percent of iPad customers-in-waiting, Instapaper (and the inevitable copycat apps that follow) will make the iPad just about the only screen from which we’ll want to do any reading, ever again.

 

http://theappleblog.com/2010/03/24/instapaper-coming-to-the-ipad/

Robot Touchscreen Analysis from MOTO Development Group on Vimeo.

Robot Touchscreen Analysis from MOTO Development Group on Vimeo.

 

http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/test_shows_iphone_touchscreen_still_the_best.php

Test Shows: iPhone Touchscreen Still the Best

If the future is all about touchscreen interfaces, then performance of the screen in registering where it's been touched is pretty important. International design firm Moto ran a robotic finger test on 6 leading touchscreen smart phones to see how well they registered a robot's loving touch.

Some of the phones did remarkably poorly, like the BlackBerry Storm and the Motorola Droid. The iPhone, Google Nexus One and HTC Droid Eris all did quite well. Check out the video below to see the tests and marvel at the apparent differences between touchscreens and their performances. As Sadat Karim writes on Neowin, "Hope is not lost though, as Moto Labs concludes that they do expect these problems to be remedied in the future as touchscreens mature and gain further traction in the industry. Commitment and competition will ultimately deliver seamless touch experiences for all consumers over time, since phone makers are continuously perfecting their products."

To see touchscreen hardware nerds duke it out over the test, check out the Moto Labs blog. How about you, readers? Have you felt the difference in performance across some of these handsets?

 

http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/test_shows_iphone_touchscreen_still_the_best.php

The Next iPhone: Are We Ready for 4G?

When the fanfare of the iPad launch begins to diminish, eyes will begin to look to the fast approaching summer and seek an updated iPhone. Though rumors of the iPhone 4.0 OS are circulating, there’s been little talk about what could be next for the iPhone hardware. Will it take design cues from the iPad with an aluminum enclosure, though that would feel in some ways to be a step backwards? More importantly, is the time right for the iPhone to take the leap to 4G?

A Bit of History

Three years ago when the handset launched, the iPhone was a 2G device. As a quick bit of history to what all of these G’s mean, Wikipedia offers the definition that the naming conventions “generally refer to a change in the fundamental nature of the service.” For example, 2G represented the switch from analog phones to digital ones (the iPhone was never analog). 3G brought multimedia support (recall how the iPhone 3.0 OS didn’t bring MMS support to original iPhones). True 4G networks represent all IP packet switched networks and as a result, consumers benefit from increases in data speeds.

3G is based on two parallel infrastructures of circuit-switched and packet-switched networks. To get a quick idea of the difference, a circuit switched network involves securing a circuit from the origin to the destination. Packet switching involves segmenting the comment into individual packets that can be routed individually (and even take different paths) to reach the destination where they are then reassembled in order. From a technical perspective, this is a much better utilization of resources as capacity isn’t wasted on circuit switching when the circuit may not be in continuous use.

The general idea behind 4G is to provide “a comprehensive and secure all-IP based solution where facilities such as IP telephony, ultra-broadband Internet access, gaming services and streamed multimedia” can be provided to users. Pulling this off, however, involves meeting standards set forth by the International Telecommunication Union. To be in compliance and really be operating at 4G standards, the cellular system must have “target peak data rates of up to approximately 100 megabits per second for high mobility” like mobile access and up to 1 gigabit per second for low mobility, like local wireless access. That’s a very high bar compared to current standards, even compared to what most of you probably have for broadband at home.

The Road Ahead

On the road to 4G, you might encounter something called 3GPP Long Term Evolution (LTE). Though it technically doesn’t comply with all of the 4G specs (mostly in terms of speed), you’ll still see this branded as 4G. Since last year, that’s where most networks have been headed. LTE promises to bring some speed improvements (and hopefully latency improvements too, as that’s a big issue that really affects how the true speed is perceived).

With the increase of iPhone users on AT&T’s network in the U.S., there are places across the country where strains are felt during heavy usage times. This reality mixed with the expensive cost and rollout of 4G service means that carriers will continue to invest in their 3G networks, which is a win to everyone. In fact, iPhone 3GS users are capable of taking advantage of the HSPA 7.2 megabits per second speeds if in a compatible market. Trials for this began last year and the technology is still being rolled out over this year.

AT&T announced in February that its next-generation 4G network wouldn’t be available until 2011, though trials would begin later this year. So will the next iPhone be the iPhone 4G? Most likely. The iPhone 3GS was released before AT&T’s networks had upgraded to offer the faster speed and I predict a similar case with this year’s iPhone model. Will Apple call it the iPhone 4G? Especially considering there aren’t plans for a 5G or 6G network in immediate future? That remains to be seen but if I had any say in the matter, I’d prefer it to just be called the iPhone.

 

http://theappleblog.com/2010/03/22/the-next-iphone-are-we-ready-for-4g/

Flurry: iPhone Games Are A $500 Million Industry In The U.S. And Taking Share

If you look at the top paid and top grossing apps in the iTunes App Store, the Games category dominates. People pay for games, but exactly how much do they pay? A new report coming out later today from mobile app analytics company Flurry puts a number on the iPhone/iPod Touch videogame industry. In 2009, Flurry estimates that $500 million worth of games were sold through the App Store in the U.S., up from $115 million in 2008. Compared to the overall U.S. console and portable videogame market, the iPhone/iPod Touch now represents 5 percent of total videogame sales. (These figures include console games such as PlayStation and Xbox, but not online or social games). Games represent 37 percent of Flurry’s total U.S. App Store 2009 revenue estimate of $1.36 billion.

In just the portable videogame market, the numbers are even more stark. The iPhone and iPod Touch are making serious inroads against the Sony PSP and Nintendo DS. Games running on the iPhone OS went from 5 percent of portable game revenues in 2008 to 19 percent in 2009. The iPhone OS took 9 points of software revenue market share away from the PSP last year (which went from 20 percent to 11 percent) and 5 points from Nintendo DS (75 percent to 70 percent). It is eating up the portable games market.

There are 30,000 games on the iPhone and growing. If you are a gamer and already own an iPhone, you have to be pretty dedicated to also carry around a PSP, Nintendo DS, or some other single-purpose game machine. When it comes to mobile gaming, fully-featured, general-purpose computer phones are hard to beat.

 

http://techcrunch.com/2010/03/22/flurry-iphone-games-500-million/

First Looks: Magazines on the iPad

Last week, a video of online magazine VIVmag's iPad app made the rounds on the web. Featured in The New York Times as a taste of digital reading's future, this extraordinary, interactive video-infused 'zine was beautiful to watch, but left many others questioning if the expense of creating tablet-ready content like this was actually feasible. For some, that answer - surprisingly - may be yes. According to Jeanniey Mullen, CMO of the magazine's distributor, Zinio, the cost was not as expensive as you may think - it was "not even $100,000," she said. But $100 grand to create one copy of an online magazine? That's far beyond the reach of many micro-publishers. And yet, for them too, the iPad introduces the possibility of reaching a wider audience than ever before.

According to the Times article, the VIVmag iPad version will continue to feature interactive content and video in every issue. For them, it's less of a problem to do so than it would be for other publishers. Although the costs of hiring models, filming against a greenscreen and editing video may seem exorbitant, VIVmag was already an "all digital" magazine from the start. Creating their digital content costs approximately the same as creating a normal print magazine - they just employ different people to do the digital version of the analog jobs. Much of the magazine is templated, too, allowing the company to reuse the same basic structures to display new content in later issues.

VIVmag received quite a bit of press - almost as much as Wired did for their so-called "iPad app." But Wired's app isn't iPad-ready just yet. Built with Adobe AIR technology, the app won't run on the iPad in its current state due to Apple's policies. Still, both of these high-end creations demonstrate the potential for all-digital magazines on the new form factor of the tablet PC. However, incredible tablet-based magazines like these won't be limited to publishers with big budgets.

Magazine with Music Downloads and More

Take, for example, Digital Americana, an interactive literary and culture magazine made especially for the tablet experience. Like VIVmag, Digital Americana will also mix in video with their other content. In fact, they'll offer articles, graphics, videos and music plus extra, downloadable content included in the per issue price.

Part of the magazine's content lineup for their first issue will include exclusive author interviews, a featured musician with playable music tracks, a filmmaker interview and their award-winning short, a featured animator with exclusive commentary, a playable cartoon, five pieces of chosen fiction-reading from American writers and "bonus extras."

From the interactive table of contents, accessible from anywhere in the magazine, you can navigate through the available sections. A quick layout view lets you hop from page to page and you can choose to scan the magazine in landscape mode, too, if desired.

Not Just a Magazine, a Tool Too

The online designer community, Mobile Love, is also turning their niche resource into an iPad "magazine" app. Not only will their iPad app include video alongside the magazine's text, it will offer an included iPhone wireframing tool, which can be used to create iPhone applications. After designing an app, there's a button at the top which will allow the designers to request a quote from a developer if they want to have their application built. (You can see this in action in the video demo here.)

Blogs Become Mags

Video-enabled, highly interactive magazines aren't the only types of new magazine experiences coming to the iPad, either. Another developer has the idea of turning your favorite web blogs into your own, custom digital creations. Called "Blogazine," this new iPad app will let you virtually flip through blog articles in chronological order.

The concept is easy to grasp - blogs become magazines. From a centrally located button, you can tap to change from one blog to another. Another feature lets you quickly share an article on Facebook or Twitter. The app will soon arrive for the iPhone too, but it's on the iPad where it will really shine.

Can't Build Your Own iPad App? Zinio Does It for You

For publishers big and small who, for whatever reason, can't or don't want to build their own iPad or tablet application in-house, digital magazine distributor Zinio will be introducing an iPad application which provides readers with easy access to digital subscriptions and an online "newsstand." The company, which has been around for a decade now, got started by offering magazine reader software for desktop computers. Now that the mobile revolution has taken hold, Zinio has expanded their offerings to include subscription and reading experiences for magazine customers which are accessible no matter what device you use: Mac, PC, iPhone, web or mobile web and soon, iPad, plus - who knows? - maybe one day Kindle, too. Zinio's goal is to make it simple for publishers to get their content out there on any form factor, screen size or platform.

To get an idea of what these iPad mags could look like, check out National Geographic's latest issue: "Water: Our Thirsty World." According to the NatGeo website, this edition features the "complete content from the print edition, plus extra photo galleries, rollover graphics that animate features like maps and time lines, video profiles of photographers who contributed to the issue, and other interactive features." When the iPad launches, it will also have the same interactive content as is available now in this digital edition, explains Mullen.

Another Zinio partner preparing for the iPad is Sporting News, a multimedia company catering to sports fans. Their newly announced iPad app will have interactive full scoreboards, stats, rotating image galleries, sports video highlights from CineSport and guest columns from athletes, coaches and industry executives. Other benefits of the iPad platform include search, bookmarking, clipping and social sharing to sites like Facebook and Twitter.

iPad: Magazines Transformed?

While these iPad magazine demos are exciting to look at, there's one big question hanging over everyone's head: can the iPad save the flailing magazine industry? For companies like Zinio, the hope is to encourage advertisers to buy across multiple magazines based on categories, instead of just sticking with the most popular print titles. Kia recently did just this and placed their TV ad in 45 copies of Zinio's digital mags. This cross-platform digital buy was the equivalent of one print buy in a physical magazine. But this makes us wonder: will this be enough income for digital publishers to thrive? It's too soon to tell, but in the meantime, we're about to discover a whole new way of reading.

 

http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/first_looks_magazines_on_the_ipad.php

Average Price for iPhone Apps Keeps Falling

According to a new report from app store analytics firm Distimo, the average price for the most popular iPhone apps worldwide dropped 15% between December 2009 and February 2010. The price for the most popular iPhone apps in Europe is higher than anywhere else in the world. While the average price for popular apps in North America is $2.43, European iPhone users pay an average of $3.86. Given the different pricing tiers, strategies and tastes across countries, it's hard to fully explain these price differences, but it looks like iPhone users in North America are more price sensitive than users in other countries.

Turn-By-Turn Navigation Apps

No matter the country or continent, navigation apps always represent the most expensive app category. Here, too, Europe leads the charge. According to Distimo, this can be explained by the simple fact that almost all the popular navigation apps in Europe cover different regions (TomTom Western Europe, Eastern Europe, UK, etc.). This skews the average price compared to the U.S., where a number of $0.99 cent apps like MotionX GPS Drive and the MapQuest Navigator are very popular and where companies like Navigon have only recently started to sell regional versions of their navigation apps.

Some Caveats

We should note that we aren't quite sure how and if Distimo adjusted its stats for currency fluctuations. In an email to VentureBeat, Distimo's founder Vincent Hoogsteder also noted that turn-by-turn navigation apps "raised the average price in December, so that the current drop is more of a correction."

Given all of these caveats, we have to take this data with a grain of salt, though its clear that the average price for the most popular apps in Apple's app store continues to fall. For developers, the constant decline of the average price for an iPhone app must be somewhat unsettling. Even though prices have fallen since December, however, Distimo's report also shows that prices have remained relatively stable since January.

 

http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/average_price_for_iphone_apps_keeps_falling.php

Google Mobile strategic meeting in Korea

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1CJ5TojnJCo

Apple Starts Accepting iPad Applications; Launch Apps Must Be Submitted By March 27

There are only two weeks left until the iPad’s April 3 launch date, and Apple has just started reaching out to developers to say that they’re accepting applications that were developed specifically for the device. We’ve included the Email below. The key takeaway: If you’re looking to have your app available at launch, you need to submit it by March 27, at which point Apple’s team will let you know if your application is ready for the grand opening.

The first few weeks after the iPad is released will be a huge gold rush opportunity, as users look to try out the device’s large screen for the first time. In short, if you can make it to one of the App Store’s ‘top apps’ lists, you’ll likely do very well for yourself. The only problem is that the vast majority of developers have never had access to an actual iPad — they’re all working off of emulators, save for a handful of extremely lucky developers who literally have their iPads chained to a desk. Developers can tweak their applications all they want on their computer monitors, but until they’ve actually gotten to try it out for themselves, they’ll have a hard time figuring out if their apps feel right.

I expect most developers will scramble to submit what they have by March 27, and that we’ll then see numerous updates immediately afterward as developers tweak button placement and other interface elements. Some developers may choose to simply wait until they have a device in their hands so that they can try out their apps before submitting, but the App Store’s discoverability issues make this a risky move (of course, given the hundreds or thousands of applications that will launch alongside the iPad, there’s no guarantee that you’ll get noticed on launch day, either).

Keep in mind that users will also be able to use scaled-up versions of iPhone applications on their iPads. Given the choice, though, there’s little doubt they’ll choose a native iPad app over an iPhone app every time.

 

http://techcrunch.com/2010/03/19/apple-starts-accepting-ipad-applications-launch-apps-must-be-submitted-by-march-27/

Apple: Our Screens Don’t Need No Protecting

If you’re of the camp that believes your iPhone or iPod touch’s screen needs some kind of additional protective layer to prevent it from getting damaged, you may want to head to the Apple store soonish to stock up on said accessories. In the very near future, you might not be able to find them, at least not through Apple’s official channels, according to sources speaking to Macworld.

The sources, who are described as Apple accessory makers who want to remain anonymous for fear of arousing Cupertino’s ire, maintain that Apple has informed them it will no longer be carrying any films or covers aimed at protecting iPhone screens from dust or scratches, or even those that claim to prevent glare and ensure privacy.

If the sources are correct, all of these types of accessories will be pulled from the Apple Store, both in its online and physical retail incarnations, as will any other accessories that stick to the surface of Apple devices. The blanket ban on anything adhesive makes sense, since these apparently have a very high return rate because of the difficulty in applying them properly.

The ban on films that “protect” the screen also makes a good deal of sense, mostly because that’s a ludicrous claim to begin with. It’s like being sold insurance against possible gryphon attack. It’s just not going to do anything, besides maybe instill a false sense of security. Think about it: do you buy protective films for your eyeglasses?

Because it’s the same exact thing. Or maybe even more ridiculous, depending on the quality of your glasses. Apple’s iPhone and iPod touch screens are made of optical glass, which is the most scratch-resistant glass in existence. I personally have owned two iPhones and two iPod touches, none of which have ever borne any kind of screen protection. I’ve dropped them all countless times, and even kept them in pockets with change and other knick-knacks, and the screens are pristine. The back cases? Not so much.

I’m not advising against due diligence here. Generally speaking, I keep my iPhone in a pocket designated for it alone, or with a pack of gum or something else non-abrasive, though sometimes I forget and throw it in with my keys. Still, keeping it loose in a bag of sand probably isn’t a great idea.

But Apple’s doing a great service to customers with this move, even if that what’s motivated it to begin with. The absence of screen protectors on Apple Store shelves should hopefully go a long way toward curbing unnecessary accessory purchases. Unless you shop at Best Buy, in which case you’ll probably come home with three screen protectors and a product service plan.

 

http://theappleblog.com/2010/03/18/apple-ban-screen-protector/

iPad: It’s All About the Games

Businessweek article, the iPad is going to be all about the games. A large portion of the few companies elite enough to actually get their hands on a pre-release version of the iPad are game developers. Gaming is big on the iPhone/iPod touch platform and our own Weldon Dodd’s analysis of sales in the App Store on its one-year anniversary revealed that 79 percent of iPhone users have purchased a game. Contrast that percentage with the percentage of games shown in the iPad commercial: zero. Why this dichotomy?

Practically ever iPhone commercial shows someone playing some kind of game and showing that the iPhone platform is both for productivity and fun. Whether it’s Monopoly or Crash Bandicoot, we usually see a game somewhere in the commercial. Games are fun and the iPhone naturally feels like a game controller. From the moment games left the arcade, we’ve been used to some kind of fairly small handheld controller for our interface device. You cradle it in both hands: one on a multidirectional tool (stick or directional pad) and another holding the device and pressing buttons. Staring in the days of Mattel Football and the Atari 2600 to the Xbox and Playstation, it’s something we’ve gotten used to. Nintendo changed the rules with its Wii Remote providing an interface device that feature more motion in the mix and had us hold the device more naturally.

iPhone games still generally expect us to cradle the device in our hands and use our thumbs to simulate the directional pad and buttons. An additional control scheme of device orientation and motion is featured in many games, but the majority of iPhone games utilize thumb tapping and dragging as the primary control. While I have not been lucky enough to lay my hands on an actual iPad, it seems to me that the traditional iPod/iPhone thumb control scheme will not adapt well to the iPad. Games that work great on the iPhone platform will simply not have the same user interface experience on the iPad. They can’t; the screen is too big and the device will be held differently. Unless you have really big hands you won’t be able to move your thumbs across the whole screen. How am I going to protect Dave’s house from the zombies now?

Herein is the problem. Apple needs killer games to show off how diverse the iPad will be and currently there are none. Steve touted in his keynote the fact that we are already used to the iPad because we are used to the iPhone. That’s only partially correct. Existing games will technically “run” on the iPad, but their play will be entirely different due to the different ergonomics. The game developers will have to go back to the drawing board and figure out how people will hold the iPad and update their games to take this into account. Is it better to assume game play will happen with the iPad flat, or will more people hold the iPad up to play the game? How clunky will using the accelerometer be on a device so large? The only way to answer these questions is to have a real live iPad in hand for testing.

Apple’s seeding of iPads to game developers is not about Apple’s commitment to the gaming platform, but a recognition that games will not translate well from the iPhone to the iPad. Lexulous and Monopoly probably won’t have a problem, but games that rely on fast tapping and hand-eye coordination (meaning the really fun ones) will likely not scale and new iPad owners will be frustrated with their shiny new toy. Apple needs these games to work and work well on April 3.

What will the first game be that shows off the unique features of the iPad the way Crash Bandicoot and Rolando did for the iPhone? How will we interact with these games and finally involve our whole hand and not our thumbs? I can imagine some genres of games that will shine on the larger iPad device, such as racing games (the iPad will make for a nice big steering wheel). Will other games be redesigned for the iPad or will they simply include new controls? Most of all, will we have to buy new games for the iPad or will they simply be free updates? I’ll leave that to the game developers who were lucky enough to have an iPad before everyone else to protect us from boredom.

 

http://theappleblog.com/2010/03/20/ipad-its-all-about-the-games/#more-42640

Which Mobile App Platform Should a Startup Focus on?

This post is part of our ReadWriteStart channel, which is a resource and guide for first-time entrepreneurs and startups. The channel is sponsored by Microsoft BizSpark. To sign up for BizSpark, click here.

As much as startups want to launch their applications across all mobile platforms, it's often more realistic to focus on just one. But which one? The iPhone has the biggest numbers in terms of both apps and app buyers, whereas Android usage stats are rocketing.

Earlier today we wrote about a new mobile analytics report that showed that Google is no Apple. We explained the difference between these two as relates to phone sales and usage. Now we'd like to highlight the difference for startups that are deciding which one to do business with. It's tempting to go with Apple because of their current sales figures, but in the long run Google is going to be a far less limiting business partner.

What's the Best Reason to Go With Apple?

In early March at the Mobilex Conference in Chicago, Charles Yim, of Ad Mob explained his company's mobile metrics report: "Android and iPhone users download a similar number of apps every month and spend a similar amount of time using the apps. However, iPhone users continue to download more paid applications, with 50% of users purchasing at least one paid application a month compared to 21% of Android users and 24% of webOS users."

This, as well as the iPad's pre-order numbers, is one of the strongest arguments for why the iPhone is the best way to go. So yes, the money is in Apple apps, but consider that app developers are starting to make equivalent money with Android.

Difference between Apple and Google as a Business Partner

Recently ReadWriteWeb guest writer Daniel Cawrey pointed out that Google makes most of their ad revenue by driving traffic to Google-owned websites. So the greater the number of apps Google can get on their websites, the more page views and resultant ad revenue they generate.

Yes, that's good for Google. But since selling mobile apps increases the amount of page views Google can generate, the company is going to be far less concerned with charging or limiting app developers in the way that Apple does.

Finally, mobile innovator forums are already being dominated by Android. Where do you think you'll find more app makers to partner with? There are far fewer barriers to app developers collaborating on the Android platform compared to the walled-garden of Apple.

Tech startups often have to plan for long-term economic growth in ways that the current market says is not yet possible and when it come to long-term growth, Google Android is going to limit those possibilities far less than Apple.

UPDATE: An earlier version of this story incorrectly described the Android and Google marketplaces. We regret the error.

 

http://www.readwriteweb.com/start/2010/03/which-mobile-app-platform-does-startup-focus-on.php