The digest of news from the world of mobile development for the last week # 4 (February 24 - March 3, 2013)
A new Facebook SDK for iOS has been released this week, Yandex.Store has finally officially launched, Google has announced the Google+ Sign-In, the first information about smartphones on Firefox OS has appeared. IDC also said that Windows Phone overtook iOS and came in third place in Russia in sales, and Baidu opened a website for English-speaking developers who want to enter the Chinese market. All this and more in our weekly digest.
')
Conversation with the creators of top iOS-applications: "Marketing is nothing, design is everything." Path
Rus
In the process of developing my first mobile application, I really lacked the experience of more advanced market mates. I decided to fill this information gap. Here is the first of a series of materials written on the basis of my communication with the creators of various applications. Selection criteria - popularity and availability of the application in my iPhone.
How much does it cost to get to the top Apple App Store?
Rus
If we reject the “honest” ways of getting into the TOP (which happens with the very same units), then the question is no longer “how” to get there, but how much it will cost. After all, if you inadvertently invented nothing that in itself is capable of blowing up the market, breaking through among about 800 thousand applications like yours, this is not an easy task.
New Facebook SDK for iOS: analytics and error management
Eng / Rus
The new SDK has improved mobile analytics, which should help developers get data about sharing events and using the application - what people are actually doing in their mobile application.
Free iOS apps are more dangerous than free Android apps
Angl
Appthority researched the 50 most popular free apps in the Apple App Store and Google Play and found out that in fact in iOS free apps are more dangerous for the user.
iTunes U scored 1 billion downloads
Rus
iTunes U, a store / library with textbooks and training courses, announced in May 2007, after 6 years, scored 1 billion downloads. Yes, this is a long time, but you have to consider that a billion teaching materials are really a lot, and besides, iTunes U basically began to gain popularity along with the release of the iPad, that is, in 2010.
Apple iBooks Author. Basic course
The cost of 10,000 (!) Rubles
Course duration - 2 days (Saturday and Sunday). Classes are held from 10:00 to 22:00 with breaks for coffee break, lunch, dinner and sleep.
Yandex opened an application store for Android
application
Yandex opens Yandex. Store - app store for devices on the Android platform. It offers users more than 50,000 programs and a convenient search for them. Visitors to the store can pay for purchases with a credit card, and MegaFon, Beeline and MTS subscribers can also pay from their mobile account.
Google announced Google+ Sign-In
Angl
Google+ Sign-In is a new system for web and mobile developers, similar to Facebook Connect - a single login for all applications, which gives them access to the user's social graph.
Google worries Samsung dominance
Rus
Like Dr. Frankenstein in his lab, Google created a monster. And now this monster is frantically worn, terrorizing the smartphone industry and even threatens the life of its creator.
Samsung and Chillingo launch a program for game developers - 100% Indie
Rus
Officially, the new project will be launched on March 4 of this year. It is a platform for applications, the purpose of which is to help young developers in their quest to make the most of the gaming world as comprehensive as possible, and, of course, send their games on a large voyage through Samsung Apps.
Getting started with Push Notifications in PhoneGap
Rus
Push notifications are not included in the PhoneGap API. If you do a small search on the PhoneGap documentation, then you can find only Notifications, which are usual alert dialogs with the possibility of using sound effects and vibrations in them. But what if you just need to create a cross-platform application with Push Notifications? I want to draw your attention to a test example of working with some of them using Android. As a result, iOS, BlackBerry and Windows Phone applications will also be available from the developed project.
Tactrick Android Developer Cup Application Contest
Rus
Anyone can take part in it, there is only one important limitation - the application should be launched no earlier than January 1, 2012. The jury, which included representatives of such major companies as Google, Qualcomm, Rockfish Interactive, Tactrick Mobile Solutions, Steel Media, Appency App Marketing, Wireless Industry Partnership, will select the best projects.
Windows Phone Store: 130,000 applications and 40,000 new developers
Rus
Microsoft today, on the occasion of the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, ​​has published some data on the Windows Phone Store. According to Microsoft, the Windows Phone Store now has more than 130,000 applications, and the average Windows Phone user has currently downloaded around 55 applications. According to the company, since the launch of Windows Phone 8 at the end of last year, application downloads have increased by 75%, and revenue from paid applications has increased by 91%.
Windows Phone came in third place in Russia
Rus
In the first place is still Android, with this OS in the IV quarter of 2012. 69.6% of all smartphones were sold. The second position is occupied by Linux (Bada) with 12.3%. Windows Phone pressed from the third position iOS. During the reporting period, 7% of smartphones with the Microsoft platform were sold. Apple devices went down to fourth place from 6.3%.
LG bought webOS
Rus
Confirmed information has appeared that HP sells key elements of LG’s webOS divisions. “Key elements” are the source code of the operating system, documentation, all project websites and the development team (client part). However, HP has all the "cloud" division, including the App Catalog, update system and other webOS support services. What else is interesting is that the entire patent package relating to Palm and WebOS will remain with HP, while LG will license the technologies it needs.
Details about Geeksphone Peak
Rus + Video
It seems that Firefox OS has every chance to find its niche in the market. And here is another confirmation of this. Probably, many have already heard about the Geekphone. Journalists from Engadget managed to hold the older model of this phone in their hands.
ZTE Open - the first official phone on Firefox OS
Rus
At the moment, information about the characteristics of the device is not so much. We only know that it is equipped with a Cortex A5 processor and has a 3.5-inch HVGA screen. That, by modern standards, to put it mildly, is not impressive. The fact that the screen is far from the highest quality can be seen even from photographs. Apparently, the phone will be focused on a low price segment.
# MBLT13: May 15 in Moscow
Announcement
May 15 in Moscow will host the annual international mobile conference - # MBLT13.
MDDay Hackathon for mobile developers: March 21 in Moscow
Rus
On March 21, Hackaphone will be held in Moscow - the first hackathon for mobile application developers in the city. The event is organized by MDDay with the support of the IMI.VC venture fund.
What Most Schools Don't Teach
Angl
Everyone in this country should learn programming ... as this will teach you how to think. Mark, Gabe, Bill, Drew and many many others about why code is important.
AppMachine Mobile Application Designer
Eng / Rus
At Mobile World Congress today launched the closed beta version of the service AppMachine. The company from Holland allows customers to build functional native applications for Android and iPhone from ready-made "bricks", as in the LEGO designer.
Intel Acquires HTML5 Toolkit for Mobile Application Developers
Rus
The acquisition of a powerful software development tool for mobile devices is Intel’s next step in developing its own “mobile” hardware and software ecosystem. Having extensive experience in developing tools for creating applications, the company will probably actively develop a mobile IDE.
Most developers prefer HTML5 for cross-platform development.
Eng / Rus
According to the new Kendo UI study, most developers now prefer HTML5 for cross-platform development. Half of the 5,000 developers surveyed during the Global Developer Survey also indicated that they used HTML5 in 2012 and 90% of them are going to continue doing this in 2013. Only 15% of developers prefer purely native development. It is also interesting how the interest of developers in the platforms is distributed:
Rollbar: bug tracking platform
Rus
Rollbar's JSON API is platform independent, and works with most web languages, including Ruby, Python, PHP, Node.js, Javascript, and Flash. Now we are working on support for iOS and Android, which they promise to add over the coming months. The integration of the necessary libraries and putting the system into operation takes about five minutes. Developers can then view data and notifications in the service information panel. This panel does not yet have its own event stream, but Rollbar currently supports integration with GitHub, PivotalTracker, and Asana events.
Baidu has opened a website for English-speaking developers.
Eng / Rus
While it is in its infancy - it has only a couple of introductions and no documentation - but it promises to be a valuable resource for those developers who want to enter the Chinese market.
DoubleTwist and Qualcomm create an open source alternative to AirPlay - MagicPlay
Rus
DoubleTwist, an alternative to iTunes for the Android ecosystem, is teaming up with chipmaker chipmaker MagicPlay, described by companies as an open media broadcast platform designed to compete with Apple's AirPlay.
Interview with Sergey Pimenov (Applifto): we are doing complex projects
Rus
Sergey Pimenov is a well-known producer of music and Internet projects, a former DJ and radio host, musician, creator of the legendary PPK project. Now Sergei heads the company Applifto, which is engaged in the creation of mobile applications. Among the hits of the studio is the Baby DJ game, which was included in the collection “Made in Russia” by Apple, and the eponymous aggregator of news about the mobile world Applifto.
Something that nobody has ever written about Nokia, Elop and the burning platform.
Part 1 -> Part 2 -> Part 3 -> Part 4 (actually, the most interesting)
Taking up this post, the author is fully aware of. And the fact that "crammed". And that "only the lazy did not throw a stone." And about the fact that "enough already, got." However, having read enough homegrown and not-so-great analysts, the author decided to express his own opinion, which differs from the generally accepted one, which with some masochistic languor was reprinted here and here by various authors, interpreters and translators. Probably someone will be interested to read it.
Every fourth user of mobile phones stores obscene photos on their device
Rus
A new study by AVG shows that 25% of mobile phone users store “intimate photos or videos” on their smartphones or tablets. Surprisingly, a large number when you consider that only 36% of respondents answered that they would feel comfortable checking their bank account from their smartphone. To find out what we are all perverts, AVG surveyed 5,107 smartphone users in the UK, USA, France, Germany and Brazil.
Clash of Clans Engagement Analytics
Angl
An analytical article about how Clash of Clans, the most earning game on iOS, involves players and forces them to return to it again and again.
Price free: Real Racing 3 needs to spend over $ 500
Rus
The number is really amazing - it may take more than $ 500 to play the “free” game.
Monetization Puzzle & Dragons
Angl
Japanese P & D games earn up to $ 75 million per month. 8 key mechanics that make P & D so successful in Japan.
Fisku monthly report on the price of a loyal user and the number of downloads in January
Angl
The purchase price of loyal users fell a little, while the number of downloads has been growing for the third month in a row.
Xchange - a new mobile app exchange.
Eng / Rus
Xchange can be called a distribution system for developers who want to see their mobile applications not only on the Apple Apple Store and Google Play.
Bartr turns advertising into a free service.
Rus
Bartr uses a series of credits. Developers who advertise within their applications and mobile games will earn credits that can be used for targeted advertising in other applications.
iOS
')
Conversation with the creators of top iOS-applications: "Marketing is nothing, design is everything." Path
Rus
In the process of developing my first mobile application, I really lacked the experience of more advanced market mates. I decided to fill this information gap. Here is the first of a series of materials written on the basis of my communication with the creators of various applications. Selection criteria - popularity and availability of the application in my iPhone.
How much does it cost to get to the top Apple App Store?
Rus
If we reject the “honest” ways of getting into the TOP (which happens with the very same units), then the question is no longer “how” to get there, but how much it will cost. After all, if you inadvertently invented nothing that in itself is capable of blowing up the market, breaking through among about 800 thousand applications like yours, this is not an easy task.
New Facebook SDK for iOS: analytics and error management
Eng / Rus
The new SDK has improved mobile analytics, which should help developers get data about sharing events and using the application - what people are actually doing in their mobile application.
Free iOS apps are more dangerous than free Android apps
Angl
Appthority researched the 50 most popular free apps in the Apple App Store and Google Play and found out that in fact in iOS free apps are more dangerous for the user.
iTunes U scored 1 billion downloads
Rus
iTunes U, a store / library with textbooks and training courses, announced in May 2007, after 6 years, scored 1 billion downloads. Yes, this is a long time, but you have to consider that a billion teaching materials are really a lot, and besides, iTunes U basically began to gain popularity along with the release of the iPad, that is, in 2010.
Apple iBooks Author. Basic course
The cost of 10,000 (!) Rubles
Course duration - 2 days (Saturday and Sunday). Classes are held from 10:00 to 22:00 with breaks for coffee break, lunch, dinner and sleep.
Android
Yandex opened an application store for Android
application
Yandex opens Yandex. Store - app store for devices on the Android platform. It offers users more than 50,000 programs and a convenient search for them. Visitors to the store can pay for purchases with a credit card, and MegaFon, Beeline and MTS subscribers can also pay from their mobile account.
Google announced Google+ Sign-In
Angl
Google+ Sign-In is a new system for web and mobile developers, similar to Facebook Connect - a single login for all applications, which gives them access to the user's social graph.
Google worries Samsung dominance
Rus
Like Dr. Frankenstein in his lab, Google created a monster. And now this monster is frantically worn, terrorizing the smartphone industry and even threatens the life of its creator.
Samsung and Chillingo launch a program for game developers - 100% Indie
Rus
Officially, the new project will be launched on March 4 of this year. It is a platform for applications, the purpose of which is to help young developers in their quest to make the most of the gaming world as comprehensive as possible, and, of course, send their games on a large voyage through Samsung Apps.
Getting started with Push Notifications in PhoneGap
Rus
Push notifications are not included in the PhoneGap API. If you do a small search on the PhoneGap documentation, then you can find only Notifications, which are usual alert dialogs with the possibility of using sound effects and vibrations in them. But what if you just need to create a cross-platform application with Push Notifications? I want to draw your attention to a test example of working with some of them using Android. As a result, iOS, BlackBerry and Windows Phone applications will also be available from the developed project.
Tactrick Android Developer Cup Application Contest
Rus
Anyone can take part in it, there is only one important limitation - the application should be launched no earlier than January 1, 2012. The jury, which included representatives of such major companies as Google, Qualcomm, Rockfish Interactive, Tactrick Mobile Solutions, Steel Media, Appency App Marketing, Wireless Industry Partnership, will select the best projects.
Windows
Windows Phone Store: 130,000 applications and 40,000 new developers
Rus
Microsoft today, on the occasion of the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, ​​has published some data on the Windows Phone Store. According to Microsoft, the Windows Phone Store now has more than 130,000 applications, and the average Windows Phone user has currently downloaded around 55 applications. According to the company, since the launch of Windows Phone 8 at the end of last year, application downloads have increased by 75%, and revenue from paid applications has increased by 91%.
Windows Phone came in third place in Russia
Rus
In the first place is still Android, with this OS in the IV quarter of 2012. 69.6% of all smartphones were sold. The second position is occupied by Linux (Bada) with 12.3%. Windows Phone pressed from the third position iOS. During the reporting period, 7% of smartphones with the Microsoft platform were sold. Apple devices went down to fourth place from 6.3%.
Other
LG bought webOS
Rus
Confirmed information has appeared that HP sells key elements of LG’s webOS divisions. “Key elements” are the source code of the operating system, documentation, all project websites and the development team (client part). However, HP has all the "cloud" division, including the App Catalog, update system and other webOS support services. What else is interesting is that the entire patent package relating to Palm and WebOS will remain with HP, while LG will license the technologies it needs.
Details about Geeksphone Peak
Rus + Video
It seems that Firefox OS has every chance to find its niche in the market. And here is another confirmation of this. Probably, many have already heard about the Geekphone. Journalists from Engadget managed to hold the older model of this phone in their hands.
ZTE Open - the first official phone on Firefox OS
Rus
At the moment, information about the characteristics of the device is not so much. We only know that it is equipped with a Cortex A5 processor and has a 3.5-inch HVGA screen. That, by modern standards, to put it mildly, is not impressive. The fact that the screen is far from the highest quality can be seen even from photographs. Apparently, the phone will be focused on a low price segment.
Conferences
# MBLT13: May 15 in Moscow
Announcement
May 15 in Moscow will host the annual international mobile conference - # MBLT13.
MDDay Hackathon for mobile developers: March 21 in Moscow
Rus
On March 21, Hackaphone will be held in Moscow - the first hackathon for mobile application developers in the city. The event is organized by MDDay with the support of the IMI.VC venture fund.
Development
What Most Schools Don't Teach
Angl
Everyone in this country should learn programming ... as this will teach you how to think. Mark, Gabe, Bill, Drew and many many others about why code is important.
AppMachine Mobile Application Designer
Eng / Rus
At Mobile World Congress today launched the closed beta version of the service AppMachine. The company from Holland allows customers to build functional native applications for Android and iPhone from ready-made "bricks", as in the LEGO designer.
Intel Acquires HTML5 Toolkit for Mobile Application Developers
Rus
The acquisition of a powerful software development tool for mobile devices is Intel’s next step in developing its own “mobile” hardware and software ecosystem. Having extensive experience in developing tools for creating applications, the company will probably actively develop a mobile IDE.
Most developers prefer HTML5 for cross-platform development.
Eng / Rus
According to the new Kendo UI study, most developers now prefer HTML5 for cross-platform development. Half of the 5,000 developers surveyed during the Global Developer Survey also indicated that they used HTML5 in 2012 and 90% of them are going to continue doing this in 2013. Only 15% of developers prefer purely native development. It is also interesting how the interest of developers in the platforms is distributed:
Rollbar: bug tracking platform
Rus
Rollbar's JSON API is platform independent, and works with most web languages, including Ruby, Python, PHP, Node.js, Javascript, and Flash. Now we are working on support for iOS and Android, which they promise to add over the coming months. The integration of the necessary libraries and putting the system into operation takes about five minutes. Developers can then view data and notifications in the service information panel. This panel does not yet have its own event stream, but Rollbar currently supports integration with GitHub, PivotalTracker, and Asana events.
Baidu has opened a website for English-speaking developers.
Eng / Rus
While it is in its infancy - it has only a couple of introductions and no documentation - but it promises to be a valuable resource for those developers who want to enter the Chinese market.
DoubleTwist and Qualcomm create an open source alternative to AirPlay - MagicPlay
Rus
DoubleTwist, an alternative to iTunes for the Android ecosystem, is teaming up with chipmaker chipmaker MagicPlay, described by companies as an open media broadcast platform designed to compete with Apple's AirPlay.
Interview with Sergey Pimenov (Applifto): we are doing complex projects
Rus
Sergey Pimenov is a well-known producer of music and Internet projects, a former DJ and radio host, musician, creator of the legendary PPK project. Now Sergei heads the company Applifto, which is engaged in the creation of mobile applications. Among the hits of the studio is the Baby DJ game, which was included in the collection “Made in Russia” by Apple, and the eponymous aggregator of news about the mobile world Applifto.
Devices
Something that nobody has ever written about Nokia, Elop and the burning platform.
Part 1 -> Part 2 -> Part 3 -> Part 4 (actually, the most interesting)
Taking up this post, the author is fully aware of. And the fact that "crammed". And that "only the lazy did not throw a stone." And about the fact that "enough already, got." However, having read enough homegrown and not-so-great analysts, the author decided to express his own opinion, which differs from the generally accepted one, which with some masochistic languor was reprinted here and here by various authors, interpreters and translators. Probably someone will be interested to read it.
Every fourth user of mobile phones stores obscene photos on their device
Rus
A new study by AVG shows that 25% of mobile phone users store “intimate photos or videos” on their smartphones or tablets. Surprisingly, a large number when you consider that only 36% of respondents answered that they would feel comfortable checking their bank account from their smartphone. To find out what we are all perverts, AVG surveyed 5,107 smartphone users in the UK, USA, France, Germany and Brazil.
Money
Clash of Clans Engagement Analytics
Angl
An analytical article about how Clash of Clans, the most earning game on iOS, involves players and forces them to return to it again and again.
Price free: Real Racing 3 needs to spend over $ 500
Rus
The number is really amazing - it may take more than $ 500 to play the “free” game.
Monetization Puzzle & Dragons
Angl
Japanese P & D games earn up to $ 75 million per month. 8 key mechanics that make P & D so successful in Japan.
Fisku monthly report on the price of a loyal user and the number of downloads in January
Angl
The purchase price of loyal users fell a little, while the number of downloads has been growing for the third month in a row.
Promotion
Xchange - a new mobile app exchange.
Eng / Rus
Xchange can be called a distribution system for developers who want to see their mobile applications not only on the Apple Apple Store and Google Play.
Bartr turns advertising into a free service.
Rus
Bartr uses a series of credits. Developers who advertise within their applications and mobile games will earn credits that can be used for targeted advertising in other applications.
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/171411/
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