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Irony At Its Finest

// February 3rd, 2009 // No Comments » // Mobile, stupid, technology

I’m not going to sit here and pretend that I don’t pirate stuff. Obviously, I have OS X running on a Dell Mini 9 (though I would argue that’s different, another post for another day). You can follow me online all day long if you want to get more details than that. In any case, I *do* get bothered sometimes with the stupidity of humans, and today that reached a new high, adding arrogance to the mix. Here’s the setup:

There’s this developer, who created an application. This application’s sole purpose is to ‘crack’ the various applications found in the iPhone App Store, so that users can access them for free, when they should be paying for them. It’s not like iPhone apps are expensive, most are under $10, and there’s apparently a major selection of $.99 apps. So this guy writes an application that is designed to discount all these developers’ hard work. Nice.

The great irony, then, is that some other dude comes along, sees that the original developer didn’t register any of the ‘Crackulous’ names around the internet (crackulous.net, the crackulous username on most social networking services, etc), and is charging folks $10 for the application. Even better, he’s spreading the word that sites offering the application for free have probably inserted a virus or something in it, and to report them immediately!

As you might have guessed, the original developers are pissed. Pissed because someone is now working to prevent them from benefitting from an application that they worked hard to create. Wait, what’s that? The very application THEY’RE fighting for is designed to also prevent the original developers of iPhone Apps from benefitting from an applicaton that they worked hard to create?! You really can’t make this stuff up, folks.

The folks at Gizmodo had an interesting conversaton with the developer, as well.

The moral of the story, though, is if you create a product, before you launch/release it, make sure you’ve registered all the domains/usernames that would be appropriate.

Mobile Phone Companies Are Getting Smarter

// July 11th, 2008 // No Comments » // marketing, Mobile

Now, don’t close out yet, hear me out. I’ve noticed that two mobile-related companies are actually getting smarter, and taking advantage of things that typically only gadget freaks see and care about. I present two instances, Nokia’s FaceTheTask.com minisite, and AT&T’s iPhone 3G unboxing video.

Starting with Nokia, we have the FaceTheTask.com minisite, which outlines a set of 96 limited edition N96 handsets that come in a specially designed numbered box, with a few little extras. The site is positioned in two lights – one, as a charity, where a ‘donation’ of EUR759 (US$1,194) gets you an N96, with the proceeds going to, obviously, the WWF (World Wildlife Foundation, not the wrestlers). The other light is much less honorable.

It’s common knowledge that high-end and hot cell phones usually hit the ‘grey’ online market a few months before they’re widely offered, and that early adopters are not against paying a few hundred dollars extra, just for the privilege of being the first. I myself did this with the Nokia 6620 several years ago, proudly proclaiming to be one of the first 3 people on HowardForums to have the cell phone. The FaceTheTask.com site lets you know that these 96 limited edition N96s will ship out to the ‘charitable’ among us before standard shipments go out, promising the recipients that early adopter status.

Great idea, but there’s a catch – you only get yours when they’ve started shipping to your country. That means that I, in the U.S., would very likely get mine about 6 months after those guys in Europe got theirs – no thanks. However, it’s a definite nice try by Nokia to do some good work and get the fanboys their phones asap.

Up next is AT&T, who’ve craftily put together an iPhone 3G unboxing video. While theirs is obviously one of the most complete ones on the net, it’s not quite there, and it’s very obvious that it’s the first time the company has done such a feat. If you’re not a geek, an ‘unboxing’ is just that – you record the act of unpacking your new gadget either in photos or video, and post it on the ‘net for all the world to admire. They’re silly, but completely necessary, at the same time.

The benefit to AT&T is the hype and recognition. I can’t believe I’m saying it, but kudos.

What Would An ‘iPhone Killer’ Look Like?

// April 22nd, 2008 // 4 Comments » // Mobile

I hate to even bring up the iPhone here, because I’m guaranteed a flood of fanboys saying that I’m an iPhone hater and that I just don’t get it, blah blah blah. However, I have an honest question, and I’m hoping for at least a few honest answers. Since the iPhone came out, everyone’s been looking for the ‘iPhone killer’. That magical handset that some other manufacturer is going to produce that will dethrone the iPhone as the greatest <insert whatever> phone ever.

My question, is what would an ‘iPhone killer’ even look like? What would it be capable of, what would it look like? Thus far, as far as I can recollect, any finger-friendly touchscreen enabled handset (despite the fact that these were available before the iPhone came out) has been labeled an iPhone copycat/wannabe/clone.

Most recently, the Nokia Tube has been labeled an ‘iPhone killer’, and Ewan over at SMS Text News has chatted with some people who’ve played with it. They’re saying it’s definitely nice, but nothing impressive, but I’d like to know what would it take for it to be impressive, vs the iPhone? You can’t tell me that nothing would be greater than the iPhone, cause, well, that’s clearly not true, and certainly won’t be true in even a year, or possibly less.

So what say you? What do you think an ‘iPhone killer’ would look like?

Locked Down iPhone SDK Surprises No One

// February 29th, 2008 // 2 Comments » // Mobile

So the news is all over the place: The iPhone’s much-anticipated SDK, due to be released on March 6th, will be pretty locked down. According to reports, Apple will implement a system where it decides what iPhone applications are ‘approved’ and which aren’t, since they’ll be using iTunes as the delivery method. Also, apparently, the SDK will *not* allow developers access to the iPhone’s Dock Connector, which means 3rd party solutions such as the GPS module are ruled out. There’s still a bit of confusion as to whether they’ll get access to the Bluetooth chip, but integrated features such as the camera, WiFi, and phone app will indeed be open for developers.

There seems to be quite a bit of surprise around the intertubes on this, and I have to say, why? Please explain what part of the iPhone thus far has been open? It’s locked to a specific carrier, locked to 3rd party apps, locked to ringtones, why on EARTH would you think this magical SDK would be Apple dumping all the locks?

This is why I use Nokia’s S60 handsets. It’s not necessarily because I blindly believe that S60 is the rule-all OS, but because I, as the end-user, am ENCOURAGED to use the handset for anything and everything I can think of. Nokia/S60 is constantly working to make it easier and easier for developers to create applications for the platform, with access to nearly everything on the phone.

Regardless of anything else, why on earth would you want to give your money to support a company that intentionally prevents you from getting the most out of their product?