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No Comment: Windows Phone Dictionary app icon seems eerily familiar
Who really thinks about designing a dictionary icon? They all look alike, after all, so what would be the point of creating a brand new one for your Windows Phone third-party app? Better just to pick up the one everyone likes so well and use that. Yes, as Craig Hockenberry pointed out this morning, the Windows Phone Featured Apps page is sporting a Dictionary app icon (for what appears to be a third-party app, not a Microsoft published app) that is a pixel-for-pixel copy of the Mac OS X Dictionary icon. Who remembers 'Redmond, start your photocopiers' from WWDC in 2006? For something like this (no doubt unauthorized by Microsoft, but still hilarious), we've got to award it a solid No Comment.
Live chat tomorrow: Application Development for the (mythical) Apple Tablet
From a developer's point of view, what do these rumors mean? Is it enough to assume that App Store products will "just work" out of the box on a new device class? Will adherence to Apple's resolution independence design principles allow well-built iPhone applications to adapt to new window sizes? Or are there greater concerns of memory, processor, and the overall user experience that need to be taken into account? On Friday, TUAW will chat with Craig Hockenberry and Daniel Jalkut. Hockenberry is the senior software engineer for the Iconfactory, a software and design house that ships both Macintosh and iPhone products. Jalkut, formerly of Apple, is the founder of Red Sweater Software (aka the "MarsEdit" people). Both Hockenberry and Jalkut bring multi-platform Apple development expertise to the table for our discussion of possible hardware directions and how developers can proactively prepare their place in a new market. Please join us at 10AM Pacific/1PM Eastern for this live chat. There's a reminder widget in the continuation of this post. Photo by http://www.flickr.com/photos/takomabibelot/ / CC BY 2.0
Hockenberry, Maheux respond in exclusive TUAW talkcast interview
On last night's talkcast, the Iconfactory's Gedeon Maheux and Craig Hockenberry joined us to discuss their concerns with the App Store, and they noted that Friday's layout changes are a step in the right direction. "It's another of many steps that Apple's making to make the iTunes infrastructure work better with applications for the iPhone," Hockenberry said. Even so, they explained there's still room for improvement. Hockenberry would like to see a popularity algorithm that takes into account the price of an app along with the number of times its been downloaded. "If you sell ... ten apps at $100 or a hundred apps at $10 or a thousand apps at $1, you're all equal." He also wanted to see a kind of demo system implemented, but knew that would involve more work for Apple. Maheux said he would prefer to see more data about where apps are being sold: on a category page versus a tile on the App Store home page, for example. He also pointed out that having an app displayed on the home page results in an astronomical increase in sales. "All those people who say that ... you can market your way to the top: I completely disagree with them. They don't know what they're talking about. ... Being on the [App Store] front page is all that matters." He said the Iconfactory applauds Apple for responding to developer feedback and improving the App Store. "Anything that starts a dialogue about this stuff is a good thing." The Iconfactory has released two iPhone apps: the popular twitter client Twitterrific, and strategy game Frenzic. You can listen to the interview at our Talkshoe page, or via iTunes. The interview starts at about the 25 minute mark. Don't skip the the first part of the talkcast, though, where Dave, Mel and I discuss Apple's netbook possibilities and the ideal kitchen computer.
TUAW Memewatch: iPhone developers irked over still-active NDA
On July 11, the iPhone SDK emerged from beta sparkling with dew. Trumpets sounded and a few frolicking nymphs danced in joy. The dawn shone bright, the sky offered the blue promise of a new day. And there in the meadow of newly released products stood a mass of grumpy developers shouting: "What about the *@!$%ing NDA?" For the happy blue release fairy had granted the developers' wishes but had neglected one teeny tiny detail: the restrictive, regressive NDA still ruled over iPhone-land from its dark menacing tower in far-off Cupertino. The hard-working developers could not bring forth their coding jewels from the mines of iPhone Mordor. Instead, they labored under the cruel chains of confidential information and non-specific release clauses. Moreover, their inability to talk freely with one another about their challenges and successes hampered the advancement of the platform. And then voices rose up: "We're mad as heck! And we're not going to take it any more!" And thus was born, Effing NDA.com. (Yes, that has been bowdlerized and the link is NSFW). Developers started tweeting their rage -- from the high hills of Oz to the depths of Silicon Valley. And how does this little fairy tale end? We don't know for sure. It all rests in Apple's hands. Let's hope for a happy ending.
