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Line Snob iPhone App: Check Event Lines Before You Wait

June 24th, 2010 by Raj Dash under Mobile Apps

scrn-iPhone-Line-Snob-320w Don’t want to waste your time standing in line more than you need to — especially for launches of hot gadgets such as Apple’s iPhone 4, or for concerts or other popular events? There’s an app for that: Line Snob!

If you hadn’t heard, Apple, Inc’s official iPhone 4 launch day was today, Thur Jun 24th, and there were lineups everywhere in many of the 9 countries that were part of the first round release. From all accounts, it was a madhouse, and there’ll likely be lineups for the next few days — maybe even weeks in some areas.

Save yourself some time by finding out how line conditions are with the Line Snob app running on your existing iPhone, iPad, or iPod Touch. Or let everyone else know by posting line conditions wherever you are (within the 25 cities that are covered by the app).

Of course, Line Snob isn’t just for reporting/ viewing iPhone 4 sales lines, but in fact any live events or venues in your city. It’s the social way to wait in line.

Line Snob, which was built for Line Snob, LLC, by Mobomo, nearly melted our servers, thanks to the huge surge from today’s iPhone 4 line updates after being headlined in Gizmodo and covered by CNN. As a result, it made it to the Apple App Store’s Top 25 Apps list for the Social Networking category.

Line Snob is free; get it now from the Apple App Store!

Mobomo’s Barg Upender Speaking at 2010 Digital Media Conference

June 11th, 2010 by Raj Dash under Events

Washington, D.C., is the location of the 2010 Digital Media Conference East and Mobomo founder/ CEO Barg Upender will be one of the panelists for the Mobile track. The conference, which is now in its 7th year, is split into five tracks: Mobile, the other, Social Media, Television/ Video, Marketing and Law & Tech.

The one-day conference takes place Jun 25th at the McLean Hilton in McLean, Virginia. More details at the DMC East site. If you are following tweets on Twitter about this conference, look for the #dmc10 hashtag. The Mobile panel, entitled Mobile Apps: The Next Stage, takes place from 11:20 am – 12:05 pm (EST), which includes 10 minutes for audience questions.

7 Tools for Your Mobile Employees

June 10th, 2010 by Raj Dash under General

The current economy has created numerous reasons for enabling your company’s employees to be mobile, even turned into full-fledged digital nomads who have the computing power they need while on the go – regardless of the size of your business. What does such an employee need in their mobile toolkit? Here’s a quick starter’s list of the basics, beyond the traditional laptop.

1. Smartphone

“Feature phone” cellphones just are not going to cut it. Mobile employees need mobile computing devices. A smartphone such as Apple’s iPhone, Palm Pre Plus, or one of the many Android phones are the starting point of a toolkit to mobile-enable your employees.

Costs: phone (sometimes free or discounted), phone minutes, data plan, activation (sometimes), chargers, cases, mobile apps.

2. Netbooks

Smartphones, as powerful as they are these days, can’t do everything. But if a laptop isn’t always convenient to carry around, a netbook can often do the job. Besides being very light and usually having the same types of ports (USB, VGA, etc.) as a laptop, they have 3G+ cellular data plans, which allow Internet connectivity on the go, in coverage areas.

Note: Netbooks do not have optical (CD/ DVD-ROM) drives but depending on the operating system, can be enterprise-enabled.

Costs: Cellular data plan (no minutes), netbook (sometimes free), case, software.

3. Tablet computer

Right now, the iPad is the most prominent in the “tablet computing” arena, but other companies are racing to compete with Apple, and other tablet computers are already appearing. For certain types of use, a tablet computer might benefit an employee in the field better than a netbook — especially in situations where there’s no flat surface to lay a netbook or laptop.

Enterprise use of the iPad, for example, is growing, and Apple CEO Steve Jobs indicated in his recent WWDC keynote address that there’s “deeper enterprise integration” in iOS4, the mobile OS that powers the next iPhone and which will have an iPad version to match.
Costs: device, cases, converter cables, mobile apps. In the case of Apple, apps purchased for the iPhone will often run on the iPad, and there’s no extra cost of re-purchasing. Just sync your devices with iTunes.

4. Personal mobile hotspot

Some smartphones offer tethering capabilities that allow Internet access to nearby Bluetooth-enabled devices, or via special cables. Other phones have “mobile hotspot” capability that allows net access via WiFi. Mobile hotspot capability is also available via standalone devices that do nothing else. Internet access is handy for mobile devices that are WiFi-only, such as a laptop or an iPad WiFi-only model.

Costs: Depends on the device. Palm Pre Plus phones have ability and Verizon offers it at no extra cost beyond the phone, monthly minutes and data plan. AT&T will offer tethering for the iPhone 4 but the iPad will not be able to use it. Standalone devices run on a monthly data plan.

5. 3rd-party apps

Depending on the smartphone or mobile device, there are thousands or hundreds of thousands of applications available, many of which would suit businesses.

Cost: Per-seat app purchase, monthly subscriptions (sometimes).

6. In-house custom apps

For some companies, custom apps are a necessity for the mobile employee. The choices are Mobile Web and Native, and on some mobile devices, the difference between the two has been narrowed.

Note: Distribution methods differ depending on the mobile platform, with some options more “open” than others.

Costs: development, maintenance, distribution, training.

7. Cloud storage

Not all mobile devices make it easy, at present, to move files between desktop/laptop and smartphone/ tablet. One option is to provide a cloud storage account to mobile employees. There are a growing number of choices, and some work on the Freemium model where a basic account is free. E.g., Dropbox.com.

Costs: Size- and/or usage-based storage plans.

This is just a starting point for managers who want to mobile-enable their employees. Want to discuss a mobile Web or native mobile app for your business or projects? Feel free to contact us to discuss your app idea or mobile campaign needs.

Why Apple’s New FaceTime Video Chat is Game-Changing

June 8th, 2010 by Raj Dash under Mobile Apps

Apple, Inc., loves to be a game-changer, and the new Apple iPhone 4, announced yesterday, will be one both for some of the hardware aspects as well as for the video chatting feature, FaceTime. In fact, FaceTime might have even more of a social impact than people realize, given that it’s intended to be an an open standard. This is a brilliant move by Apple. Why? Well first let’s look at the current situation.

Current Usage Situation

When the 4th-generation iPhone becomes available in the first round of countries on Jun 24th (preorders online in those countries starting Jun 15th), FaceTime will work only over WiFi, between two 4th-gen iPhones, only. There are consumers who will get the iPhone 4 for that reason alone. That’s a very limited usage scenario and not necessarily enough to win over sales of iPhone 4.

What’s Coming

However, there are some other parameters to the usage equation that are not yet taken into account.

Cellular networks: Availability over 3G or higher cellular networks. FaceTime over 3G has already been promised by Apple. I honestly don’t care about this given AT&T’s change in data plan pricing. So unless Apple gives AT&T a stern talking to about the data plans, or gives other U.S. carriers the iPhone, I don’t see this as a big deal.
Other phones: Usage over any other handset makers’ smartphones that are capable of replicating a similar experience.
Other mobile devices: Usage over any other mobile device with a front-facing camera, such as an iPad of the future, say in early 2011.

Apple is great a creating market demand where it didn’t even exist. Look at the iPod. Did we need iPods, given there were other mobile audio players? Of course we didn’t. But they created what became a classic consumer electronics device, and the technology behind the iPod seems to have helped fuel the development on the iPhone/ iPod Touch and iPad mobile devices.

History of Video Calling

FaceTime is not hardware, of course, but video calling has been something that at least North Americans have been promised for decades, and which seems to have stayed in the realm of science fiction, at least for the masses. Until now. We really do need one calling protocol to make it work, with the least technical difficulties, and by being first, Apple has the advantage.

Okay, Apple’s not first with video calling. A number of VoIP desktop applications — e.g., Skype — have had it for several years now. Also, video calling has been available for conferencing systems — but such systems are costly and definitely not for the mass market. Apple’s not even first with video on calling on smartphones, since a couple of devices were announced within the past few weeks. However, Apple will be perceived as first because of the open standard offering.

Mass Market Video Calling

I have no doubt that Apple can get most or all of the big players such as Microsoft and Google on board to support the FaceTime standard, and in doing so, they stand to further the company’s brand. Even if they don’t immediately convert non-Apple device FaceTime users to hardware purchasers. How could they get them to convert? By offering additional FaceTime features available only on the iPhone. By offering enterprise integration for FaceTime on the iPad (a future model, with a front-facing camera). By constantly reminding non-Apple app developers and users that 3rd-party apps get access to FaceTime features only with the Apple iPhone SDK.

However, Apple creates the market demand for FaceTime, I’m very certain they’ll do it, and video calling will likely be integrated into iPhone OS apps very quickly. Imagine gaming, social network, healthcare, distance education, tech support, service calls and many other niches having next-generation mobile apps with video calling integrated. Even social interaction will be forever changed. (For example, imagine families spread across the globe who will now be able to see each other during those long periods when they cannot meet in person.)

If Apple can convince the right players to join in, FaceTime is going to have a huge impact on mobile application usage and on the way humans interact.

Want to discuss a mobile app with video calling features for your business or projects? Feel free to contact us to discuss your app or mobile campaign needs.

ABCs of Apple iPhone 4 and iOS 4: 25 Details and Features

June 7th, 2010 by Raj Dash under iPhone

If you’ve been off the planet for the past month or so, you can be forgiven for not knowing there’s a new iPhone, and much of its feature set was confirmed today by Apple CEO Steve Jobs in his keynote address for WWDC in San Francisco. This 4th-generation iPhone is packed with new features — some of them catching up to competing phones, some surpassing competitors. Here’s a quick list of what’s new, hopefully ending much of the speculation that’s been going on.

Availability: The release plan seems a little different than for the iPad, with five countries given first crack: US, UK, France, Germany and Japan being allowed online pre-orders on Jun 15th, and availability on Jun 24th online, at Apple and AT&T retail stores, and Best Buy and Wal-Mart. The rest of the release plan calls for 24 more countries in August, after the first five, then the remaining countries for a total of 88. According to the press release, the phone will be available in numerous countries by the end of July, including: Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Finland, Hong Kong, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, New Zealand, Singapore, South Korea, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland.
Battery: Larger battery, 40% more talk time. Specifically, 7 hours talk time on 3G; 10 hrs Web browsing on WiFi and 6 on 3G; 10 hrs of video playback; 40 hours of audio playback. Standby mode: 300 hours (nearly two weeks).
Bing search. While Google is still the default search engine for mobile Safari, the new iOS allows for you to switch over to Bing if you want.
Cameras: 5MP camera with 5x digital zoom and LED flash for low light conditions. Front-facing and rear-facing cameras.
Color: Black and white models.
Developer support: Over 1500 new APIs for developers to access 100 new features.
Display. The predictions were right: the iPhone 4 has 4x the pixels, for a whopping 960×640 screen resolution, at 326 ppi (pixels per inch). The new “Retina” display gives it a much higher contrast than 3GS — apparently 800:1 contrast ratio, giving it an almost paper-like quality for display text. (Print magazines often have a resolution of 300 or 600 dpi — dots per inch.) The 3.5 inch screen has a resolution that is almost 80% the size of the iPad.
Email, enhanced: Unified email inbox. Attachment support.
Form factor: It has a more squared-off form factor than before — but you probably knew that from all the photos of “leaked” prototypes. It’s supposedly 24% thinner than before and claims to be the thinnest (9.3 mm) smartphone on the planet. Overall, it’s 4.5 inches tall, 2.31 inches, and just under 5 ounces. Unfortunately, the new form factor means the iPhone 4 has to have a new dock. The iPhone 4’s alloyed metal rim is not only strong (5x stronger than steel), it acts as the the phone’s antennae (plural), to improve reception.
Gyroscope. The iPhone 4 has a 3-axis gyroscope that can more accurately detect phone motion in 6 axes — a plus for video gaming.
iAd ad network. Apple says that they have advertising commitments through their new iAd ad network for $60M in 2010 alone. Steve Jobs claimed this morning that iAds will steal 48% of the mobile advertising market.
iBooks. iPhone will get its own iBooks, which will allow for bookmarks and user sticky notes to be added to digital books.
iOS iPhone OS. Despite some talk about the name “iOS” being owned by Cisco, iOS is what iPhone OS 4.0 is being called. It’ll be available for download on older 3G and 3GS phones on Jun 21st, and (probably) preloaded onto iPhone 4. (However, some new OS 4 features will not be available for 3G phones.) The iPad will get an upgrade this fall.
Keyboard support, Bluetooth. Just as with the iPad, the iPhone 4 will allow you to add a Bluetooth keyboard.
Memory: 2×128 = 256 MB RAM. 16GB and 32GB models. Looks as if they did not manage to use the new 64GB flash drives made recently available — meaning predictions of storage capacities of 64GB and 128GB were unfortunately incorrect.
MicroSIM. Uses the new microSIM.
Microphones: Two, for noise-cancelling.
Netflix: Netflix is coming to the iPhone App Store free of charge, and it’ll allow starting a movie on the iPad and finishing viewing on the iPhone, or vice versa.
Networks: 802.11n WiFi, with added quad-band HSUPA.
Pricing: The phones are $199 for 16GB and $299 for 32GB. Wonder what they’re saving the $399 price slot for. The new 8GB 3GS model will be available on Jun 24 for $99.
Processor: A4 processor, just like the iPad.
UI features, enhanced. Multitasking, Folders, enhanced Mail, “deeper” enterprise support.
Upgrades: If your AT&T contract is up any time in 2010, you are apparently eligible to upgrade to a 4th-gen iPhone immediately (as in Jun 24th or whatever date depending where you live). You have to extend your contract for two more years. If you’re merely eligible for a phone upgrade, you probably don’t qualify. However, I called AT&T and the very helpful CSR concluded that while my non-iPhone line’s contract, and that of my wife’s, ends Mar 2011, our LG Vu phones qualify for upgrades in Aug and Nov of 2010. We are eligible for a partial discount immediately. Meaning, we might have to pay $200 extra per phone over the new prices to change the LG Vu phones into iPhone 4, as well as get new iPhone data plans. However, according to what Engadget says that AT&T told them, if you already have an iPhone and want to upgrade it, you are eligibility immediately if your contract allows an upgrade any time in 2010. So please check your online account or talk to an AT&T CSR for verification. You can also dial *639# from your AT&T phone, but the resulting text message is not all that detailed. Ultimately, you might just have to walk into your nearby AT&T store and on Jun 24th and find out for sure.
Video chatting: It’s called FaceTime, and it allows two 4th-gen iPhones to video chat, but only over WiFi for now, with 3G support coming in the future. Given AT&T’s cellular data pricing plan changes, maybe that’s a good thing. Either camera can be used for FaceTime chats, in both portrait and landscape modes.
Video editing. Not only will the phone have HD video recording (720p@30fps), you’ll be able to edit video with a built in app, or with the upcoming iMovie for iPhone ($4.99).

So there you have it. There are all sorts of other features and details that are not listed here, but these are amongst the most important. The FaceTime commercial by director Sam Mendes (American Beauty, Revolutionary Road, Jarhead) is below.

Google AdMob Beats Apple iAd to iPad Advertising SDK

June 4th, 2010 by Raj Dash under Mobile Advertising

Google’s newly acquired AdMob has beaten Apple’s iAd to market with an SDK that allows iPhone OS mobile apps developers to specifically target the iPad. AdMob’s iPad SDK was released on Jun 2nd, whereas iAd SDK is not expected to be announced until Monday’s WWDC 2010 keynote address by Steve Jobs.

AdMob’s SDK supports two formats: (1) text and tile ads; (2) image ads. Both format types are available in three IAB (Internet Advertising Board) standard sizes: 300×250, 728×90, 468×60. Personally, I’d think that these sizes are inappropriate for the iPad and really more suited to websites and blogs. It’ll be interesting to see what Apple’s iAd offers.

The two companies are now competing at yet another level. AdMob has the advantage over iAd, being the largest ad network on the iPhone. However, Apple is unlikely to block the AdMob’s iPad SDK, possibly because Apple is the target of an antitrust review by the U.S. Justice Dept and FTC. On the other hand, iAd has a development advantage, being able to access iPhone OS features for the iPad that may not be available in public iPhone APIs. Under the Apple App Store’s current guidelines, iPhone OS apps must not use “private” iPhone APIs.

Regardless, both companies ad networks stand to gain.

Want to discuss a mobile campaigns or a native mobile app for your business or projects? Feel free to contact us to discuss your mobile platform needs.

DIY iPad Mounting Solution: Velcro

June 4th, 2010 by Raj Dash under iPad

If you don’t want to shell out bucks for some of the iPad accessories available for improving viewing and user experience, there’s an inexpensive option: velcro. Jesse Rosten offers video proof that velcro is an accessible, affordable solution for mounting the iPad on multiple surfaces, for multiple purposes, including: (1) on your car dashboard for a navigation system; (2) on your wall for a dynamic digital picture viewer; (3) on your stove for viewing cooking lessons; and several more.

Not sure I’d ever take the risk of trying one of the last solutions: mounting the iPad on your bedroom ceiling, above your head, for who knows what purpose. Sounds a bit too risky, but most of the other solutions seem workable. Does anyone know if velcro efficiency is affected by steam? Of course, as Rosten says, the video shows the possibilities, not necessarily practical solutions.

iPad + Velcro from Jesse Rosten on Vimeo.

Apple’s WWDC Kicks Off Monday Jun 7th

June 4th, 2010 by Raj Dash under Mobile Computing

There’s all kinds of speculation as to why AT&T is changing iPhone/ iPad data plan pricing, though maybe Monday’s Apple WWDC keynote by Steve Jobs will shed light on it all.

AT&T is giving some concession to keep the old unlimited iPad data plan — but the offered reason that very few people are using the full 5GB/month data cap doesn’t seem to hold water, especially with video calling coming. On the other hand, the claim that the new pricing will be more affordable for more people sounds like a spin on “we’re losing exclusivity soon, so we want to prevent financial bleeding before the fact by offering the lowest-priced data plans now.” Will Apple slap AT&T’s wrists over this ? Not sure, but by Monday, we should at least know what consumer electronics wonders Steve Jobs has in store for the rest of 2010, after Jobs’ keynote kicks off in the morning at WWDC.

Of course, it’s still fun to speculate until then, and now speculation is running towards multiple iPhone carriers in the USA, though not immediately. This is based on speculation about what Jobs meant at D8 this week when he said there might be an advantage to this, as well as other rumors that suggest AT&T’s exclusivity contract is coming to an end in Nov or thereabouts. This might be why AT&T has suddenly created several revenue stream opportunities for themselves around the iPhone and iPad, including specialized iPhone insurance, increased ETF (Early Termination Fee) rates, revised data plans that do not favor power users (i.e., probably most early adopters of the iPad), etc.

Other interesting tidbits out of D8: that the iPad concept predated the iPhone, and that the original project was called the Safari Pad. I guess the Newton was missed.

AT&T Gives Customers Some Leeway on iPhone/ iPad Data Plans

June 4th, 2010 by Raj Dash under Mobile Computing

If you were non-plussed to hear that AT&T was changing their data pricing plans for the iPhone and iPad come Jun 7th — the very day many of us expect the announcement of the 4th-generation iPhone during the WWDC keynote address by Apple’s Steve Jobs — then you might be happy to know they’re giving consumers some leeway. Some, but not much.

Looks as if AT&T doesn’t want too much bad publicity. Despite of one threat of a cease and desist to a blogger who wrote to AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson [contact details] about the new iPhone/ iPad data pricing plans, they’re making some concessions. If you really really want the previously promised $30/month unlimited data plan for the iPad 3G, you can still get it, but with some conditions. If you don’t already have an iPad 3G, you have to order one before Jun 7th. When you get it, even if it’s after Jun 7th, you’ll be eligible to sign up for the original $30/mth data plan. Of course, if you already have the iPad 3G, you can get the data plan now, before Jun 7th.

So for some of us, that means we’ll have to race to order an iPad 3G. No word on whether any similar concession is available for the next iPhone, other than if you upgrade a current iPhone. (For example, as mentioned previously, I have an iPhone 3GS that I intend to keep, and thus my plan will stay at the 5GB/month cap. But I can upgrade my LG VU phone in August to a new iPhone. Unfortunately, I do not believe I’ll be able to get the 5GB/mth plan for that phone — which is a disappointment since my wife’s LG VU can be upgraded in October, and we were looking forward to video calling on the new iPhone. E.g., a feature that’ll eat up data.

AT&T Disappoints iPad/ iPhone Power Users Yet Again

June 3rd, 2010 by Raj Dash under iPhone

AT&T just announced new iPhone/ iPad wireless pricing plans which while costing more for future iPad power users, had some ray of hope: iPhone tethering. That meant you could now connect to the Internet from your iPad (whether from a WiFi-only model or a 3G model) using your iPhone’s data plan. Or so we thought.

Techflash is reporting that an AT&T spokesperson told them via email that iPhone-to-iPad tethering won’t be possible and mentioned something about the iPad not having USB ports. (AT&T are also saying it’s an iPad/ iPhone issue, not their policy.) Sounds kind of unusual. The iPhone also has no USB port. How are other wireless devices to tether from the iPhone? This of course means that the iPhone will not have a “Mobile Hotspot” feature, unlike Android phones and Palm Pre Plus.

John Gruber of Daring Fireball suggested that the good outweighs the bad in AT&T’s new iPhone/ iPad data pricing, but I’m really not so sure, in light of this — at least not for a power user like myself. Let’s look at some numbers. My iPhone costs me $70/mth (phone + data costs) to get online and has a 5GB/mth cap. Maybe I don’t use all of that cap on my iPhone like AT&T says, but I expected to use close to 5GB or more than that on my future iPad 3G (I have a WiFi-only model right now). After the cost of the iPad 3G, I’d have to pay $25/mth for 2GB, plus $10/GB overage. So for 5GB, that’s $55, but only if I use that much data.

On the other hand, my Palm Pre Plus costs me $80/m for phone and data, with a 5GB cap and free Mobile Hotspot. I can connect any 5 wireless devices to the Internet with the Mobile Hotspot feature. Yes, it’s expensive in comparison, especially if I don’t use my cap every month. Other “personal WiFi” options cost anywhere from $40-60/month, according to my research, with typical 5GB/month data caps — though who knows if this will change.

For now, it does seem that non-power users are getting a better deal with AT&T’s new pricing plans — though power users (i.e., many early adopters) are being cheated out of what was promised: unlimited 3G for $30/mth. And even if AT&T says it’s Apple’s fault re iPhone-to-iPad tethering, I’m not sure everyone is going to view it that way. AT&T is the bearer of bad news in this case, and will be perceived as such, at least until there’s more clarity as to what iPhone tethering means, what exactly you can do with it and what you can’t.

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Mobomo – Full Service Mobile Development located in the Washington, DC area