MobileViews Blog

Author: todd

  • Replace “telephone company” with “Google” or “Microsoft” in this 1960s Lily Tomlin customer service video

    Microsoft let Windows Mobile users know that the Windows Mobile Marketplace will shut down on May 9, 2012 and that Applications and games acquired from the Windows Mobile 6.x Marketplace service installed on your Windows Mobile 6.x phone will continue to work after the service is discontinued on May 9, 2012. However, additional downloads of these applications and games from the Windows Mobile 6.x Marketplace service will no longer be available. This may not be a huge issue for people who did not buy apps through the marketplace (I did not). But, it may be a problem for those who did and need to hard reset a Windows Mobile device to restore functionality. People who bought Windows Mobile phones in the fall of 2010 before Windows Phone was released will have a less than 2 year old phone that cannot restore some apps in the event of a loss or hard reset.

    This situation also illustrates a problem with all of the single platform stores that have sprung up since Apple led the way with its ultra-successful iOS App Store, however. And, it makes one pause to wonder what will happen if Microsoft ever stops supporting the Windows 8 app store since WOA users cannot get apps outside of that venue.

    The 1960s Lily Tomlin video above may be useful in attempting to understand Microsoft’s (and perhaps Google too) customer service attitude.

  • An app that might be worth its $28.99 price tag: Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary for Android & iOS

    The most I’ve paid for an app is $9.99. I’m hard pressed to name an app I might consider buying that costs more than that. However, if you do, here’s an Android app that might be worth its relatively high $28.99 price:

    Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary (Google Play)

    A version is also available for the iPhone and is being developed for Windows Phone.

    Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary
    (more…)

  • iPhoto for iPad requires 742.9MB iOS 5.1 update

    It turns out that the new $4.99 iPhoto for iPad app requires the also just released iOS 5.1. So, I’m downloading the 742.9MB file right now for my iPad 2. Next stop? The 106MB download for iPhoto for iPad. Stay tuned.

    (more…)

  • MobileViews Podcast 58: A discussion with Aditya Bansod about Sencha Touch 2

    In MobileViews podcast 58 Todd Ogasawara speaks with Senior Director of Product Management at Sencha, Aditya Bansod, about Sencha Touch 2 which launched this week. Sencha is a JavaScript framework optimized for developing mobile HTML5 web apps with rich user interfaces. It supports the native web browsers for Android, iOS, Kindle Fire, Chromebook, and more. Bansod said that Windows Phone will be supported in a future release.

    The big news about Sencha Touch 2 is that it lets web developers create native apps for Android and iOS that can be distributed through their respective app markets. This also means that developers who use Windows as their development platform can now create iOS apps for iPhone and iPad without buying a Mac, learning Objective C, and using Xcode.

    And, what does Sencha Touch 2 cost? It is free with dual licenses available: GPL or Commercial License. Listen to the podcast to learn more details.
    (more…)

  • Apple’s March 7 announcement: The iWatch HD

    Apple is not beyond a bit of misdirection. And, based on this photo, it looks like Apple’s March 7 announcement will not be the iPad 3 or iPad HD. It looks like an iWatch HD to me.

    What is it really? It is the $19.95 The Wallee Hand Strap.

  • Smartr for iPhone service shutting down. Can’t say I’m surprised

    I received email from Smartr that the server powering their iPhone app will shut down on the Ides of March.

    Unfortunately, the Smartr team is moving on to new things and is unable to support its continued development. With a heavy heart, we will be pulling the plug on the service on the 15th of March @ 1pm EST.

    If you’d like to retrieve your data, such as stacked articles, simply drop me an email at temo(AT)smartr.mobi with your request.

    Honestly, I can’t say I’m surprised. Here’s what I wrote about the app on May 23, 2011.

    Split Vote on Smartr for iPhone Social News Reader

    …I found the app confusing. After giving it access to my Twitter account feed, you can see the display it gave me when I tried to look at the “Smartr feed”. I could see links tweeted by people I follow in the Twitter tab of the app. So, what is this Smartr feed? It appears to be a feed created by following people I’ve never heard of and have no reason to trust their curation of links. Commentary about the current 2.0 release in the iTunes App Store notes that the app sends out tweets from users’ accounts. However, you can opt-out of this behavior during the initial setup process. I revoked the app’s access to my Twitter account and deleted the app off of my device.