2014-05-31

Mobile app developers get whipsawed by rising marketing costs in April | VentureBeat | Mobile | by Dean Takahashi

Mobile app developers get whipsawed by rising marketing costs in April | VentureBeat | Mobile | by Dean Takahashi
Oh, the agony of mobile marketing costs. App marketing costs rose in April as mobile app developers poured more money into acquiring new users on mobile devices, according to a report by mobile marketing firm Fiksu.


In a goldrush, the hardware stores make the money. The gold miners go broke.

2014-05-29

iPhone 6 rear shell reportedly on display in new leaked photo | 9to5Mac

iPhone 6 rear shell reportedly on display in new leaked photo | 9to5Mac: "Australian blog MacFixIt has gotten its hands on a photo of what it says is a rear shell from the upcoming iPhone 6 that allegedly comes from sources inside the supply chain. This is reportedly the 4.7″ model, which is one of two planned for release this fall. The larger 5.5″ version has yet to be leaked, though."
It's quite leaky.

Berlin's Google-backed Factory startup hub opens in June | VentureBeat | Entrepreneur | by Richard Byrne Reilly

Berlin's Google-backed Factory startup hub opens in June | VentureBeat | Entrepreneur | by Richard Byrne Reilly: "The Factory is a 16,000-square meter technology campus and incubator in the Bernauer Strasse district of Berlin. It’s largely housed in a former German brewery, and numerous IT heavyweights like Zendesk, Soundcloud and 6Wunderkinder are already working out of the space."
Das ist Google!

2014-05-28

Apple to live stream ‘exciting’ WWDC keynote for everyone to watch | 9to5Mac

Apple to live stream ‘exciting’ WWDC keynote for everyone to watch | 9to5Mac: "Apple has updated its website to announce that it will be live streaming next week’s WWDC Keynote address for all to watch. As per usual, the event will be available on Macs running Safari 4 or later, iOS Devices running iOS 4.2 or later, Windows machines running Quicktime 7, and via an application on the Apple TV."
Yayzers. Can watch it on my PowerPC G4.

2014-05-22

‘No man’s land’: How a bigger iPhone 6 will require developers to rethink their app designs | 9to5Mac

‘No man’s land’: How a bigger iPhone 6 will require developers to rethink their app designs | 9to5Mac
When I first upgraded from my iPhone 4 to the iPhone 5s, I immediately noticed an incredible upgrade in the clarity and sharpness of the larger 4-inch Retina display, but also some usability issues that plagued my iPhone usage experience...

Supporting more than the 3 existing display configurations has nightmare written all over it. Pretty soon, developers will be using a HTML style flow layout instead of trying to use native controls and absolute positioning. I mean, the NIB model was never designed with this kind of complexity in mind.

2014-05-19

2014-05-17

Too sensitive: Apple prohibits masturbation game from App Store | GamesBeat | Games | by Jeff Grubb

Too sensitive: Apple prohibits masturbation game from App Store | GamesBeat | Games | by Jeff Grubb: "She will instead move forward and build the game on HTML5 and Javascript, which will enable it to work on any phone through a browser. She will also take that version and release it as an app for Android."
Apparently, she's never heard of Apportable which would allow her to port to Android quickly and freely.

2014-05-14

German Apple Store staff being blocked from September vacations | MacNN

German Apple Store staff being blocked from September vacations | MacNN: "German Apple Store workers are being blocked from taking vacation days in September, according a source for local website iFun. The reason for the restriction hasn't been made public, but since September/October is typically when Apple releases new iPhones, that's believed to be reason why. It is however unusually early for a such a window to be imposed; normally Apple and other vendors will only institute blocks a few weeks in advance of a product launch."
I think it's safe to say a new iPhone comes September.

2014-05-13

Cue health tracker brings molecular-level testing to iOS

Cue health tracker brings molecular-level testing to iOS: "The culmination of four years of research and development, Cue's eponymous device is a small, modular, noninvasive hardware solution that unlocks key health information previously available only from specialized diagnostics laboratories. "
The NeXT wave of health care reform. Ready or not, here I come!

2014-05-10

Facebook yanks Poke and Camera standalone apps in bid to consolidate titles

Facebook yanks Poke and Camera standalone apps in bid to consolidate titles: "The removal of Facebook's widely panned Poke and Snapchat rival Camera came without warning and little fanfare. Facebook confirmed the apps' removal to The Verge, but declined on commenting on the matter.
It's that old thing about brand-line extension that nobody ever believes.

2014-05-09

Apple reportedly nearing $3.2B acquisition of Beats Electronics

Apple reportedly nearing $3.2B acquisition of Beats Electronics
In a somewhat surprising move, Apple is rumored to be in talks with Jimmy Iovine and Dr. Dre's Beats Electronics that could see the audio accessories and music streaming service acquired for $3.2 billion."


It's not surprising. In urban environs, beats products are EVERYWHERE. They are the de riguer for DJs and musicians. Kind of like Macs are.

GT Advanced provides update on Apple Arizona partnership in latest earnings results | 9to5Mac

GT Advanced provides update on Apple Arizona partnership in latest earnings results | 9to5Mac
Apple struck a deal with GTA last year to manufacture the sapphire displays that are expected to appear in the next-generation iPhone at a new plant in Mesa, Arizona. Earlier this year the plant was outfitted with enough sapphire crystal furnaces to create an estimated 100-200 million displays. "


Looks like the iPhone6 will be big and indestructible.

2014-05-04

Coding bootcamps will graduate 6,000 people in 2014 -- 3x as many as last year | VentureBeat | Dev | by J. O'Dell

Coding bootcamps will graduate 6,000 people in 2014 -- 3x as many as last year | VentureBeat | Dev | by J. O'Dell - That’s almost three times as many graduates as last year, and it’s one-tenth as many graduates as will emerge from undergraduate computer science programs.


And you'll need three times as many coders to maintain that ever-expanding mass of spaghetti otherwise known as spazware.io.