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Today, iPhone is extremely popular in the mobile marketplace because it hosts a number of features & functionalities and is laced with advanced technologies. The demand for interesting apps is sky-high and they are also pivotal for business. iPhone support apps which can be connected to the enterprise ERP system and mobile workers can be authorized to access it via custom-built applications. iPhone apps are also lucrative marketing tools for the launch of new products, movies or video games. iPhone app development provides a new path for capturing more audience and attracting them to a product or a service of a company. The online market is buzzing with the trendiest of apps all the time!

It is important to know how iPhone applications can attract customers of your targeted market. The marketing strategy is important here. The apps should be highly interesting and attractive and in some cases useful for the targeted audience.

Be interesting:

The thumb rule for creating any type of app is to be interesting in UI, concept and execution. Customers prefer only those applications and products, which are interesting and useful to them. If the application loses interest midway, then there is no way that you can grab the intended audience. The app on the other hand will also not give you enough returns. It's simple, make it interesting enough for a general audience and mostly to the targeted audience.

Be attractive:

iPhone app development is not an easy task. That app which you are going to develop should be innovative but also extremely attractive and pleasing to the eye. iPhone app developers create wonderful apps for the iPhone users so that the application gets its due publicity and grab eyeballs. The application should at least please its niche audience through its concept; for example, the kids who prefer bright and chirpy colors throughout.

Be Useful:

Usefulness is a pivotal ingredient which can never be done away with while creating an app. It should be meaningful and should avoid any ambiguity while conceptualization takes place. What is useful for customers is worth it for the users. They also beget good ROI.

In the end, it is a thought that iPhone app developers can convert a concept into reality. Conceptualization is a critical factor while making any app. Pick up your concepts from real-life scenarios and make wonderful and interesting apps for your iPhone. Creativity, user-friendliness and flexibility will define the success of your apps and for your business.

Souce: Ezine

IPhone has been the latest gadget to rock the world in the last couple of years. Let's have a look at how iPhone application development helps users. IPhone apps are making revolutionary developments to accentuate business activities.

It is imperative for iPhone application developers to have experience in iPhone SDK. IPhone application development and developers are likely to increase owing to the fact that it is totally a brand new technology. There is a wide scope of development as the demand for Apple's handheld devices is increasing day by day.

IPhone is one of the most versatile communication gadgets to have come up lately. It's a stupendous tool. It is no doubt a great product, but every phone is as good as its applications and hence IPhone is no different. Its market and its applications are growing at an amazing speed. Its applications development has been regularly posing new challenges to the creativity of the application developers. It is fast becoming a favorite for mobile users. Henceforth, the development of its applications is also increasing at a breakneck speed. Everyday thousands of these gadgets are selling and their new owners demand more and more from applications development market.

IPhone is basically a mobile phone which is equally competitive and usable as a personal computer. An iPhone developer needs to think, out of the box, in a way, to develop newer and applicable applications. It's a high-tech technology and many of its current and future owners, are not really equipped to handle this advance technology. So the developer has to ensure that whatever application he develops, has to find relevance in the market. It should be user-friendly as well as much advanced than anything else in the market. The customer profile of iPhone is mixed. Everybody from young to old is using it. The young are interested in its variety of game applications whereas an executive wants it to use like a phone cum personal computer.

IPhone application development is useful from business point of view also. Outsourcing is yielding huge profits to the developers for the last couple of years. Apps development is not just custom software development. Developers think out of the league, imagine totally varied applications and have complete control on object oriented software development. The right planning and designing thus yields awesome apps, right away. IPhone development outsourcing has led to a new path for extraordinary growth in sales and profits.

Source: SooperArticles

Since the introduction of the iPhone 4 last year, the smartphone market has seen a number of “superphones” powered by Android, Google‘s open-source operating system. These devices typically feature screens that are 4 inches across or larger; 4G LTE wireless Internet; and extremely high-end specs, including dual-core processors. The Droid Bionic is an example of an Android superphone, as are the Droid 3 and the HTC Thunderbolt.

Tech pundits have criticized the iPhone 4S since its announcement, partly for keeping the same exterior design as the iPhone 4 and partly for not incorporating more superphone-esque features. But each one of those features carries with it a tradeoff, that Apple was apparently unwilling to make.

4G LTE versus battery life

Smartphones equipped with 4G LTE radios achieve much faster wireless Internet connections than 3G, or even “3.5G” HSPA+ smartphones. The HTC Thunderbolt, for instance, does not even get 4 hours of battery life without an add-on extended battery, which costs up to $49.99 and adds weight and thickness to the device. The iPhone 4S, on the other hand, promises up to 8 hours of talk time while on 3G. (Apple does not publish battery life numbers for while it is connected via HSPA+.)

Screen size versus ergonomics

As blogger (and “superhero”) Dustin Curtis discovered, the iPhone 4′s 3.5-inch screen can be comfortably used with one hand. The Samsung Galaxy S II, though, an Android superphone with a 4.27 inch screen, repeatedly stymied his efforts to tap the screen’s far corners using his thumb. Anand Lal Shimpi of AnandTech explains that large screens are themselves a tradeoff — superphones simply have to be that large, to accommodate both a 4G radio and the battery needed to power it.

Power versus usability

The iPhone 4S is roughly on par with most of today’s Android superphones, specs-wise. For the last year and a half, though, the iPhone outsold most Android phones put together, despite its aging hardware. As in the home computer market, Apple’s competitors tend to compete on raw hardware specs, while Apple sells a complete experience from desktop iTunes to the iPhone.

Variety versus reliability

Apple’s smartphone competitors rarely undertake ambitious software engineering projects, such as HTC’s HTC Sense. Because of this, they rely on companies like Google (for the Android operating system) and Fring (for video chat). Apple creates both the hardware and software on its smartphone; it writes dedicated apps, such as FaceTime, for features it deems important, such as video chat. It restricts these apps to only devices that it controls, such as the iPod Touch and the Mac. But in return, it makes them — and the iPhone — extremely reliable to use.

Jared Spurbeck is an open-source software enthusiast, who uses an Android phone and an Ubuntu laptop PC. He has been writing about technology and electronics since 2008.

Source: zimguardian

Oct. 5 (Bloomberg) -- Apple Inc. this holiday season will have to prove it's what's on the inside that matters most.

With its latest iPhone 4S, Apple didn't tinker with the outside of the device, focusing instead on improving the processor, camera and software interface. The challenge will be persuading shoppers to upgrade to a new product that looks exactly like their old one.

Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook, in his first major product release since taking over for Steve Jobs, is counting on faster speed, voice recognition and the iCloud storage service to make the iPhone a success. The device, Apple's best-selling product, will face off against an army of fresh smartphones running Google Inc.'s Android, including Samsung Electronics Co.'s Galaxy S II and LG Electronics Inc.'s Thrill 4G.

Apple “didn't quite understand how revved up expectations had gotten,” said Frank Gillett, an analyst at Cambridge, Massachusetts-based Forrester Research Inc. Some users were looking for a more revolutionary iPhone 5, rather than just a faster iPhone 4, he said. Instead, “Apple is asking people to appreciate and give them credit for a highly engineered and integrated set of products and services.”

Jobs Absent

Cook also has to promote the new iPhone without as much day-to-day assistance from Jobs, whose expertise in marketing and design helped turn Apple into the world's most valuable technology company. Jobs, who switched from CEO to chairman on Aug. 24, didn't appear at the unveiling of the iPhone 4S yesterday. The 56-year-old has taken three medical leaves over the past seven years amid a battle with a rare form of cancer.

The success of the iPhone has helped Apple weather market turmoil and the resignation of Jobs, with the shares gaining 17 percent this year. Apple rose $5.75, or 1.5 percent, to $378.25 at 4 p.m. New York time on the Nasdaq Stock Market.

Apple touted the inside changes to the iPhone 4S at yesterday's event, held at its headquarters in Cupertino, California. The A5 chip will make graphics seven times speedier and deliver twice the processing power. The model will cost $199, $299 and $399, depending on features, and will be available from Sprint Nextel Corp. for the first time. Apple already had agreements with AT&T Inc. and Verizon Wireless.

Motorola Deal

“Inside, it is all new,” said Phil Schiller, a senior vice president in charge of product marketing.

At stake is leadership in the market for smartphones, which is projected to double by 2015, according to IDC. A billion of the handsets will be sold that year, the research firm estimates. While the iPhone is the world's most popular smartphone, the Android operating system is more widely used by the industry.

Google aims to bolster that position by purchasing its own mobile-phone manufacturer, Motorola Mobility Holdings Inc. A full redesign under the iPhone 5 banner, along with a revamped iPhone 4, would have given Apple more ammunition to use against Google and its Android partners.

Even so, Apple benefits from more efficient manufacturing by keeping the same body design, Gillett said.

“One thing people don't understand about Apple is they don't just change the look for the heck of it,” he said. “They think about it for a very long time.”

Camera Replacement

The iPhone 4S, available Oct. 14, will have a camera that has 60 percent more pixels and can shoot high-definition video. The device also relies on an “intelligent antenna system” that's designed to improve call quality and works with both CDMA and GSM wireless standards. Users will have up to 8 hours of talk time on one charge.

“For many customers, the iPhone 4S will be the best still camera they've ever owned, the best video camera they've ever owned, and it's with them all the time,” Schiller said.

The new voice-recognition system will turn the device into a hands-free personal assistant. The technology lets users check weather, get directions or surf the Web using speech commands. Apple already had basic voice-control abilities on the iPhone for placing a call or accessing a song.

Apple acquired a speech-recognition software company last year called Siri, which helped it develop the new features. The system relies on artificial intelligence to handle users' questions. The features, combined with the more aggressive prices, will give Apple an edge, said Andy Hargreaves, an analyst at Pacific Crest Securities in Portland, Oregon.

ICloud Release

“Siri is very unique from what I've seen and should continue to differentiate them at the high end,” he said.

The older iPhone 4 model will now cost $99, and the iPhone 3GS will be free with a wireless contract.

The company also is preparing to release iCloud, which stores pictures, music and other files on Apple's remote servers. The content can be accessed through iPads, iPhones and Macs via the Internet, and mobile devices no longer have to sync up to a computer. ICloud will debut on Oct. 12.

Voice recognition is emerging as the latest arena for Apple's rivalry with Google, which has spent years promoting speech technology. Current Google features let users transcribe voice messages to text, ask for turn-by-turn driving directions and perform Web searches based on verbal commands.

Apple's iPod, meanwhile, remains an important business, Cook said -- even as the iPhone cannibalizes some of its sales. As it prepares for the year-end shopping season, the company introduced a new $129 version of the iPod Nano and a range of iPod Touch models starting at $199.

The iPod, which made its debut 10 years ago, has reached sales of 300 million units globally.

“It took Sony 30 years to sell 220 million Walkman cassette players,” Cook said.

Source: news.businessweek

The day after two researchers revealed security gaps in Google’s Android phone, Google’s stock took a nosedive. Of course, so did the rest of the stock market including competitors Yahoo, Microsoft and other tech heavyweights.

While the drop in Google’s stock price last week may not be directly related to the security gap revelation, growing concerns about Android’s security can’t be helping Google’s long-term stock value.

Researchers John Oberheide and Zach Lanier posted a video on Sept. 20 showing how to exploit two unpatched security holes in the Android phone. One of the holes pointed out by the researchers allows a Trojan to download and install malware on the phone without requiring user interaction. The other flaw enables cyber criminals to suppress permission prompts and install malware to gain full control over the handset.

In addition, a Lookout mobile security report estimated that between a half million and a million Android users were infected by malware in the first half of 2011. Galen Gruman, executive editor of Infoworld, even went so far as to call the Android a “malware cesspool.”

What does all this mean for Google’s stock price?

Well, Android’s reputation for being a “malware cesspool” so far hasn’t hurt Google in its efforts to beat back smartphone competitors Apple’s iPhone, RIM’s Blackberry, and Nokia’s Symbian. Microsoft’s effort to redeem itself in the smartphone market, the Windows Phone 8, has yet to hit the market.

According to Gartner’s latest statistics, Android has surged past Symbian as the top smartphone operating system, gaining a 43.4% market share in the second quarter of 2011, compared to a 17.2% market share in the same period last year. Symbian holds on to a 22.1% market share, while Apple’s iPhone operating system (iOS) has an 18.2% market share and RIM has an 11.7% market share.

To maintain that momentum, Google will need to address the Android security flaws or risk losing consumer trust.

Source: Forbes

SAN FRANCISCO: Apple Inc's next iPhone, due to be unveiled at an event today, may be a showcase for improved voice controls, bringing phones closer to the realm of "Star Trek"- style speech recognition.

New voice commands will let users make appointments in their calendars, send text messages or e-mails, and surf the Web, said Gene Munster, an analyst at Piper Jaffray Cos. Apple already has basic voice-control abilities on the iPhone for placing a call or accessing a song. Today's event is called "Let's talk iPhone," hinting at an expansion of the features.

Voice technology is emerging as the latest arena for Apple's rivalry with Google Inc, which has spent years promoting speech technology. Current Google features transcribe voice messages to text and perform Web searches based on verbal commands. The challenge so far has been getting mainstream users to adopt the technology, said venture capitalist Larry Marcus, who has invested in speech-recognition company SoundHound Inc.

Apple can "make it exciting and make people think about it in different ways," Marcus said. "Voice controls are a very fundamental way to interact with your device."

Voice commands won't be the only features added to the new iPhone. The device may include a better camera and a stronger processor to make programs run faster, people familiar with the matter said earlier this year. Apple showed off some of the new software for the device in June, including new messaging and notification features.

iCloud approaches The company also is readying iCloud, a service for storing files such as pictures and music on Apple's remote servers so they can be accessed through iPhones, iPads and Mac computers.

Natalie Kerris, a spokeswoman for Cupertino, California- based Apple, declined to comment on today's event.

The fifth-generation iPhone comes at a pivotal time for Apple. Today's event will be the company's first major product unveiling since co-founder Steve Jobs resigned as chief executive officer in August, when he turned the job over to longtime deputy Tim Cook.

The new speech technology would build on a service Apple introduced in 2009 called Voice Control, which lets users make a call or play music by speaking into the phone. Those features haven't taken off, Marcus said.

"They have probably been taking extra time to figure out how to get it right," he said.

Nuance software Speech-recognition technology also is available from companies such as Nuance Communications Inc, which offers voice-to-text transcription software. Automakers are adding speech features as well, letting drivers make a call or choose a song while keeping their hands on the wheel.

Mobile devices represent a growth market for voice-command technology as people try to perform more complex computing tasks on the go. Features will increasingly blend vocal and physical commands, said John Donovan, chief technology officer of AT&T Inc, a carrier for the iPhone.

"Certain things are more naturally spoken, some things are more naturally typed, and some things are more naturally swiped," he said, referring to the swiping motion that iPhone users make on the device's touch screen. While declining to talk about Apple specifically, he said a big product event can "accelerate" adoption.

Apple acquired a speech-recognition software company last year called Siri, which lets users make restaurant reservations or search for a flight with voice commands. Apple also is probably working with Nuance to power the voice capabilities of the new iPhone, said Mike Phillips, chief technology officer and co-founder of Vlingo, which also makes voice-recognition technology.

How far? The move is good for the whole market, Phillips said. "The question is: How much farther do they go?" he said. "Do they really try to transform the search experience?"

That would mean making voice a main method of searching, rather than a once-in-a-while method, Phillips said.

Apple also is facing mounting competition in touchscreen smartphones -- a market it pioneered. Samsung Electronics Co and HTC Corp are relying on Google's Android software to woo iPhone users. And Google is acquiring its own mobile-phone company, Motorola Mobility Holdings Inc, for $12.5 billion.

The Apple-Google rivalry has expanded to the courtroom, where Apple and Android adherents are suing each other for patent infringements.

Smartphone showdown At stake is leadership in the market for smartphones, which is projected to double by 2015, when 1 billion of the handsets will be sold, according to research firm IDC. While Apple is the single biggest smartphone maker, the Android coalition leads the market, accounting for 41.7 per cent.

The iPhone is Apple's top-selling product, generating almost half its sales last quarter. The company hasn't released a new model since June 2010, so there may be pent-up demand for an update. Apple will sell a record 25 million iPhones during the December quarter, Piper Jaffray's Munster estimates.

The success of the product has helped Apple's stock weather market turmoil and the loss of its CEO. Shares of Apple, the world's most valuable company, have climbed 16 per cent this year. The stock fell $6.72 to $374.60 in yesterday's trading on the Nasdaq Stock Market.

Even so, the long delay between new iPhones has put pressure on Apple to ward off competitors, said Ramon Llamas, an analyst with Framingham, Massachusetts-based IDC.

"It's critical they have an iPhone coming out every single year," he said. The 16-month lag "left the door open for some other competitors to jump in."

Source: timesofindia

Brace yourself: Apple Inc. is about to spark another iPhone frenzy.

The entire technology world will be watching Tuesday when the most profitable mobile device maker in the world hosts a media event in California. Although Apple has not announced what the event is for, just about everyone expects the company to unveil the newest iteration of its hyper-popular smart phone,the iPhone 5.

There's plenty of speculation – and almost no confirmed information – on the newest iPhone's specs. A number of blogs and media outlets believe the new phone will come with a four-inch touch screen and an eight-megapixel camera. The high-end device, which will probably sell for more than $600 (U.S.), will also almost certainly have a more powerful processor and slimmer frame than its predecessors.

The new phone is prompting Wall Street to forecast that Apple will post enormous sales in the October-to-December quarter, with shipments expected to be in the range of 29 million.

But just as important as Apple's up-market offering is its rumoured entry-level version of the iPhone 4, which many expect the company to unveil at the same event. Though Apple continues to reap most of the profits from the consumer smart phone market – it accounts for about 40 per cent of Apple’s revenue, with margins estimated at roughly 60 per cent – a slew of phones powered by Google's Android operating system have actually outsold iPhones this year. Android-based phones now constitute the biggest share of the smart phone market in many regions, including North America.

With a relatively cheap version of the iPhone 4, Apple hopes to counteract this trend, giving cost-conscious consumers an alternative to the multiple entry-level handsets available from competitors such at HTC and Samsung.

But beyond the gadgetry on display, there's greater significance to this week's iPhone event. The launch will mark the first major event in Apple's iDevice era to be led by the company's new chief executive officer, Tim Cook, and without any presence from Apple's founder, Steve Jobs. Mr. Jobs recently stepped down from the CEO position because of poor health, and everyone from investors to analysts to die-hard Apple fans will be watching to see how much of the founder's famous on-stage charisma Mr. Cook can muster.

For Apple, the stakes are higher this time around than during any previous iPhone launch. Until recently, the company had much of the market for high-end consumer smart phones to itself (with other players, led by Research In Motion Ltd., dominating the corporate and government market). But Android-based phones have improved in quality significantly this year; Microsoft Corp. is investing billions into its own smart phone operating system and RIM has released a number of attractive new BlackBerry models.

Still, in terms of desirability, few brands in any market compare to Apple's smart phone. A recent study by mobile ad network provider InMobi found that about 41 per cent of current mobile users in North America planned to buy the iPhone 5 – including 52 per cent of current BlackBerry users.

Source: theglobeandmail

Mobile phones have changed the lives of millions and billions around the globe. No matter where you are, it is easy to in touch of your near and dear ones all the time. A touch on the key-pad and you can talk to them. iPhone is the biggest attraction which comes with a huge display screen and hundreds of applications to make life easier and simpler. It has become a craze among the youth and iPhone mobile applications are in huge demand. And the credit goes to iPhone Application Developers who develop really useful and exciting mobile applications. And it is easy to download them.

iPhone is a fantastic device and iPhone Application Developers are making it all the more attractive and useful. There are many software companies involved in mobile application development, however developing a mobile application is not a cake walk (even for the best company in the industry). Developing an application (liked and used by masses) requires knowledge, passion and a complete dedication. And for this, one needs to do a complete homework.

iPhone applications such as "Pickin' Stix Classic", "Angry Birds Rio Free", "Finger Slayer", "Coin Dozer" and "Words with Friends Free" are among the most popular applications. And iPhone application developers around the globe are constantly coming up with new and better applications which would run on iPhone devices. Android has also a life-changer for any. Since the launch of Android in the market, one can see a lot of change in the mobile development space. An Android App Development company may use the Google Android SDK so as to develop Android applications. These developers usually use Java programming language to develop applications which would run on all Android supported devices.

Things have changed a lot. A mobile phone is now not just an instrument for making and receiving calls, it has become much more than that. The applications (most of them are free) are making these devices all the more useful and attractive. And undoubtedly the credit goes to mobile application development companies. These companies (or iPhone application developers) use the latest technologies, expertise and people to develop applications for their clients around the globe.

Source : SooperArticles

Next week Apple will announce new iPhones. There will be a backlash. There will be praise. Much of the significance will be lost in the noise.

Instead, Apple’s metrics should focus rivals’ attention on the importance of multi-year strategies.

Competitors are forever seeking to emulate Apple. But too many deploy me-too tactics, rather than following a consistent and sustained long term strategy:

HP fired its CEO under a year after appointment. There’s only time to kill things, not build them, in such a short period.

Nokia dithered on MeeGo. In 2009, Nokia partnered with Intel on MeeGo, then killed MeeGo just a year later, to focus on Microsoft Windows Phone instead.

Samsung’s Galaxy S of 2010 resembles the Apple’s old iPhone 3GS of 2009, not the designed-from-scratch iPhone 4 that the S actually competed against at the time the S arrived in the market.

Part of the problem is that Apple keeps its strategy to itself: New products seem to appear out of Apple’s magic hat fully-formed at high profile launch events as if they’ve been born an adult, with no incubation or nurturing period. There are rarely betas or pre-announcements months ahead of availability, unlike the perpetually beta services of others. But we know Apple takes years to create these products. The iPad’s origins pre-date the iPhone and go back to around 2004 -- six years before it launched -- while serious development began in 2007, again years before competitors had anything publicly available that they could copy.

By mistaking tactics for strategy Apple’s many competitors are doomed to poor results. The time needed to build products as deeply and well designed as Apple’s can’t be completed overnight. Software design takes years to do. The supplier relationships that Apple is securing are long term. The investment that Apple is placing in key component design -- moving into chip design with the A4 and A5 -- is not something that any company could achieve without clear multi-year strategy.

Despite the Android evangelists and Apple naysayers, Apple’s metrics are nothing short of outstanding:

The iPod is almost ten years old, but Apple anticipated its old age, and created a new generation: the iPhone. Apple has sold 315m iPods cumulatively. In just four years, not ten, and at a much higher selling price, the iPhone alone has shipped 129m units. I estimate there are now over 221m iOS devices.

Apple hasn’t been afraid to disrupt itself by creating a tablet that cannibalizes Mac sales. In five quarters, Apple has shipped 28.7m iPads. New Apple CEO Tim Cook has acknowledge the risk to Mac sales in a recent presentation, but correctly quantified it as greater to other computer makers than to Apple as Apple has a small share of the PC market. If the iPad cannibalizes computer purchases, Apple has more to gain from iPad sales than lost Mac sales. Not many companies would be this shrewd and this prepared to compete against themselves.

Apple has become a games company. It has over 50m users for Game Center, its social gaming initiative for iOS. The iPod touch competes head on with Nintendo and Sony’s PSP as a gaming device. In my view, the iPad is an even better games console that’s only being held back by its current high price.

Apple enjoys an average revenue per phone over $600. By contrast RIM has c$280; SonyEricsson is Euro156; Nokia’s is just Euro62. Only HTC, perhaps the greatest mobile phone maker success story other than Apple, is close with $359.

The iPhone is the most popular smartphone model bar none, despite the hyped antenna teething problems.

Almost a year after the iPhone 4′s introduction Apple shipped 20.3m iPhones in Q2 2011; by contrast Samsung’s Galaxy S II shipped 10m in five months. The iPhone4 is still competitive with the latest designs from rivals although it’s now over a year old.

Apple has broken out of the idiosyncratic US phone market to be truly global. Two thirds of iPhones ship outside the US. Google-owned Motorola, RIM (at the high end), and HP Palm have struggled except in North America. SonyEricsson and Nokia have failed to break into the US. LG is losing money. Only Apple and Samsung have succeeded in Asia, Europe and North America.

Apple created the current mobile content market with Apps. Apple have paid $2,500,000,000 to app developers and delivered a total of 14,000,000,000 app downloads. Before Apple, mobile content meant ringtones and wallpapers (mainly) with the odd Java-based game. Now, it’s a massive market that’s so attractive the world’s largest media retailer, Amazon, has created an app store and is becoming a mobile device maker too with the Kindle Fire.

To compete with Apple is far from easy. Those that wish to play that game must focus on the long term at the same time as making money in the present. The real challenge though, is that I’m becoming less and less sure that this battle is one that any company can avoid. Apple is constructing a grand portfolio that ties together publishing, movies, TV, music, telephony, Internet, games, consumer electronics, payments, photography, computing, etc. etc.

Some years ago I would have advised some firms not to compete with Apple, and instead to find a different and less congested market. I’m no longer sure that’s an option for most. The only way to prosper now in this vastly enlarged market is to create a solid long term strategy and then execute it consistently.

Source: betanews

Sports teams looking to get their information out to their communities in an accessible and modern way need not worry any longer — now there's an app for that.

Team Info App LLC of Ruston has launched an iPhone application that gives schools, sports leagues and business teams a way to offer their communities vital information specific to their organization directly through their smartphones.

Only two days after becoming available to the public, the TeamInfoApp was the 17th most downloaded sports app in the Apple App Store on Friday, according to iOSNOOPS and iOS tracking company.

"We were really excited and thrilled by that," said TeamInfoApp co-founder and designer, Jordan Riggs, who created the app with his wife, Julie. "We really believe in the concept."

Riggs said they came up with the idea for the app after seeing the need firsthand.

"My wife and I have six kids who play just about every sport imaginable, and we couldn't figure out why more high schools and sports leagues didn't have a custom app to keep parents and fans updated with their team's information," he said. "So we looked into it and realized that what did exist was costly and labor-intensive for the schools and leagues to use and provided very limited features. We came up with a concept of something very easy and inexpensive for our partners to use with very little effort on their part."

The app allows users to access a variety of information from their organization, including their schedule, calendar of events, directions to events on Google Maps, team rosters, fundraising opportunities, contact information and websites.

"As parents, we're so busy today, and the info is out there but oftentimes not where you really need it to be. This allows the organizations to provide that information in the place where they really want to have it, which is on their phone," Riggs said. "Our phones have become the place where we access about 90 percent of our information."

TeamInfoApp is now partnered with Ruston's Cedar Creek School, Ruston Parks and Recreation, the YMCA of Northeast Louisiana for Ouachita, Lincoln and LaSalle parishes, Ruston Body Works and Ruston Dixie Baseball.

Source: thenewsstar

The iPhone 5 will come in the "unibody" form Apple uses in its Macbooks, an analyst predicts.

A Wall Street analyst has said that the Apple would release two phones -- iPhones 5 and a cheaper iPhone 4S -- at its upcoming event, expected for Oct. 4.

"We continue to expect 2 new iPhone SKUs (a mid-range iPhone and iPhone 5) to be introduced at Apple's upcoming event," Deutsche Bank analyst Chris Whitmore wrote in a note to clients.

"Specifically, we expect an iPhone 5 with aluminum uni-body construction, better camera and slightly larger screen size as well as a cost-down iPhone 4, or iPhone 4S," Whitmore wrote.

On its Macbook Pros and Macbook Airs, Apple uses the unibody construction method, which allows for a consistency of production and reliability by reducing many moving parts to one part. Also, it makes the product thinner and stronger.

Speculation is that the iPhone 5 will have an 8-megapixel camera, a dual-core A5 processor with a clocking speed of at least 1.2GHz and a 4-inch display. Apple's iPhone 5 would also feature the new iCloud service in operating iTunes for wireless remote access of music from all computers and mobile devices. iPhone 5 would be running on iOS 5, which Apple would be releasing this fall.

On the other hand, the analyst said iPhone 4S should help Apple drive greater penetration into the mid-range smart-phone market and drastically expand Apple's addressable market. He also said that iPhone 4S is nothing but an 8 GB iPod Touch with a radio frequency module.

Whitmore believes that Apple can produce the iPhone 4S at volume with a sub $150 bill-of-material cost, giving it flexibility to drive volume, margins and share.

An aggressive push into the mid-range will essentially double Apple's iPhone addressable market in the near term and position it for more share gains in the 700 million-plus unit smartphone market by 2014.

"We believe Apple can achieve a BOM cost near ~$150 for a cost-reduced iPhone 4 (vs. our prior estimate of $165) aided by a favorable commodity environment and scale advantages. The lower BOM means Apple can aggressively price a mid-range iPhone to drive volume without sacrificing margins," Whitmore said.

The analyst added that even if Apple prices iPhone 4S between $300 and $350 (unlocked without a contract), it could still generate healthy manufacturing margins of more than 50 percent.

Source: ibtimes

If you crack open the casing of the new iPhone, you will find significant upgrades from the iPhone 4. The new iPhone features Apple’s dual-core A5 processor like the iPad 2 for even faster performance, better gaming, and drastically improved graphics. Apple didn’t stop there though. Unlike the iPad 2, the new iPhone packs 1GB of RAM, according to a source familiar with the SOC’s manufacturing. That not only means better web browsing, but more importantly, new background tasks that Apple will introduce in the new iPhone’s software will perform much better.

The new iPhone will also feature an upgraded camera system. In terms of hardware, the new camera is an 8 megapixel sensor that takes incredibly high-resolution and clear shots, even in low light conditions because it has a backlit sensor. Also, panorama photography references have been found in the iOS SDK on multiple occasions which means we’ll likely see that feature. Other than that, the camera front-end system is reportedly mostly the same.

The new iPhone also contains Qualcomm Gobi Baseband chips that allow it to operate on both GSM and CDMA networks. We can’t yet confirm or deny the rumors that Apple was building a virtual SIM card system or if it has an NFC chip yet, however.

Although some may be happy with the new iPhone’s substantial internal hardware boosts, the new device’s biggest selling point is actually a software feature called Assistant. As we first revealed, Assistant is Apple’s Siri-inspired, system-wide voice navigation system. It so far appears that iPhone 4 and iPhone 3GS users will be left out in the fun, unfortunately, because the feature requires the A5 CPU and additional RAM.

From what we’ve heard, the Siri-based Assistant is described as the biggest game changer in this year’s iPhone. The system is the evolution of the Voice Control function that was introduced alongside the iPhone 3GS in 2009 and it is the fruit of Apple’s purchase of Siri last year.

How it works:

To activate, the user holds down the home button for a couple of seconds (loads much quicker than Voice Control because of the A5 chip/RAM) and then the microphone interface “slides up” from the bottom in a clever animation. The speech interface doesn’t cover your entire view, just about the bottom fourth of the display – like the multitasking/app-switcher function. The feature even works from the lock screen.

As a disclaimer, we must note that the software was not finalized when the details were provided, so some features may change in the shipping version.

Since there are so few direct commands with Voice Control, Apple slides the command options by on a waveform. Assistant is packed with seemingly endless possibilities, so Apple instead has a small “info” button which one can click to view some of the most commonly spoken commands. This command view not only shows command types, but actually provides some sample phrases; Apple obviously wants their implementation to be as intuitive as possible. In the middle of the Assistant interface – next to the small command samples button – is a silver microphone icon with an orbiting purple flare. The flare notes that your iPhone is ready to receive commands.

Assistant taps into many aspects of the iPhone, according to people familiar with the feature and SDK findings. For example, one can say make appointment with Mark Gurman for 7:30 PM and Assistant will create the appointment in the user’s calendar. On noting events, Assistant also allows users to set reminders for the iOS 5 Reminders application. For example, a user could say “remind me to buy milk when I arrive at the market.” Another example would be integration with the iOS Maps application. A user could ask: “how do I get to Staples Center?” and Assistant will use the user’s current location via GPS and provide directions.

Another interesting Assistant feature is the ability to create and send an SMS or iMessage with just your voice. For example, you can say “send a text to Mark saying I’ll be running late to lunch!” – and it will send. This is a super compelling feature for people who cannot physically or safely take the time to type out a text message. Users can also choose to have Assistant read back unsent text messages to ensure the system interpreted the speech correctly. If the text is written correctly, the user simply says “yes;” if not the user says “no” and Assistant will ask the user to speak again. Apple is also working to allow users to ask for a specific song to be played. Voice Control only allows albums, artists, and playlists to be chosen with your voice.

One of the key elements of Assistant is the conversation view. The system will actually speak back and forth with the user to gain the most information in order to provide the best results. The user essentially can hold a conversation with their iPhone like it is another human being. For example, if a user is making a meeting with me, they will say “setup meeting with Mark” and the first “bubble” of the conversation thread will say that. After that, the system will speak back: “which e-mail address should Mark be notified at, work or personal?” This question will both be spoken out loud by the iPhone Assistant and shown as a new “bubble” in the conversation thread. The user will then respond with the email address they want to notify me at, and the appointment will be made. The iPhone will even show a quick glance at a calendar view to confirm the appointment. If the Assistant was sending an SMS, as another example, a mini SMS view would appear so the user has a quick glance at the SMS thread.

Assistant is literally like a personal assistant, but in your phone. The speech interpretation is so accurate that users do not even have to speak very clearly or in a slow and robotic tone, according to a source familiar with the software. Users can simply talk how they would usually talk to another person, and the iPhone with Assistant will do its best to interpret the speech and provide accurate results.

Another compelling feature relating to Assistant is “Find my Friends.” Yes, Find my Friends is real and Apple may have been waiting on Assistant integration to release it into the wild. Basically, if a friend of mine wants to instantly know where I am, they could say “where’s Mark?” and Assistant will locate me and share my location information. Of course, there will be privacy settings for this as we previously revealed.

Perhaps the coolest aspect of Assistant is its integration with Wolfram Alpha. For those unfamiliar with Wolfram Alpha, it is an online computational knowledge system. With its integration into the new iPhone and Assistant, one could essentially ask their iPhone facts or questions of all types and get an instant response. For example, you can ask your iPhone a math problem or ask how many feet are there in 12.75 meters, and get an instant answer. The whole idea of having an infinite amount of information at the sound of your voice is unbelievably convenient and powerful.

In addition to Assistant, the new iPhone features Nuance speech-to-text integration, formally called “Dictation,” according to a mobile carrier source familiar with the feature’s extended testing. As expected, the user just taps the microphone icon, speaks, and the speech becomes text. This happens in less than a second in most cases and is unbelievably accurate. The interface for this is also said to be remarkably simple and blends into the design of the iOS 5 Messages application.

Going back to the hardware design, we’re hesitant to jump to conclusions at this point, but we do know that these next-generation iPhones are definitely floating around with shells that look identical to the iPhone 4. Because a report claimed that Apple is stuffing next-generation guts into iPhone 4 casings to throw off leaks, we don’t want to affirm that the new iPhone retains the iPhone 4 design. In addition, a new design has been rumored based on recent “iPhone 5″ case leaks.

In any case, expect Assistant, 1GB of RAM, the dual-core A5 processor, Nuance speech-to-text, and an 8 megapixel camera to make an incredible iPhone upgrade on October 4th.

Source: 9to5mac

Grouptime GmbH today launched its unique social messenger for mobile devices. The free messaging app allows users to text, group chat and privately share with the people and groups in their life at absolutely no charge. grouptime is the only messenger that works with posts like a social network and enables users to easily exchange messages and instantly share with groups with one click. The free app lets users send unlimited text, photo, audio and location messages, and post status updates and receive comments in real-time. grouptime is the new app to communicate, share and get together with family, friends and colleagues.

The idea for grouptime is based on the limited capabilities of SMS/MMS and other mobile messaging solutions as well as the increasing privacy concerns with social networks. “For many users – especially for teens and young adults – texting is the most important feature of a mobile phone. However, until now it wasn’t possible to post status updates, perform group chats and share multimedia content with contacts or groups of your choice instantly via your mobile device”, said Tobias Stepan, managing director of grouptime GmbH. “Our free app offers users the combined benefits of texting, group chat and social networking with the people from their mobile address book at absolutely no charge.” Unlike other messengers, grouptime operates with posts like a social network and while the app has a simplified user-interface to make messaging as easy and fast as possible, the messenger has extensive privacy features to ensure that it is a private place to communicate and content is shared exclusively with the people intended.

Like SMS, grouptime sends push-notifications to immediately inform users of new personal or group messages. However, contrary to SMS, the free app utilizes the data connection of a smartphone and thus eliminates all texting related costs. For teenagers and young adults, who often send more than 50 text messages a day, this means huge savings. Besides, the free messaging service integrates directly into the mobile phone’s address book, saving users the time they normally require to manually connect with people and find friends with traditional messengers or social networks. Users only need to download the free app for their smartphone and are set to go. The grouptime messenger is now available as a free download for iPhone/iPod/iPad in Apple’s iTunes app store. An Android app will be launched soon.

Source: dailymarkets

The Internet Revolution! I'm sure you read and heard a lot about it and so I won't list the myriad ways in which it has changed everything. Professionals capable of working independently and creatively have benefited the most from the ubiquity of the internet.

There are so many ways I which you can showcase your talent to the world (or hawk your wares): you can write a novella, self-publish it over Amazon, and if people like it, you will mint money; you can post a funny video over YouTube (or start you own 'Channel'), and using nothing more than your skills and ingenuity, find fame and fortune; or you can use your iPhone application development skills, sell your app(s) in the Apple App Store, and buy that yacht you'd always wanted!

Over 2 billion apps are downloaded from the iPhone App Store every year, and as the sales of iPhones continues to rise and more people start using iPhone, the demand for iPhone apps will increase. iPhone apps are constantly making the news and they are one of the prime reasons for the success of iPhones. Experts predicts that 3G smartphones which offer all the facilities of internet will replace PCs and laptops, and apps are the things that make it easier for the users to use their smartphones in lieu of computers: the market for apps is huge, and it will only grow further over time.

Do you have creativity, talent and innovative ideas? There are school students out there who are making serious money developing iPhone apps and selling them using the iPhone app store. Do you think you have the app idea of the decade? You don't necessarily have to have a scientific and technical mind to gain success at iPhone application development: all you need is an idea and the ability to transform it into reality.

The best thing is that there are a number of free tutorials and SDKs available on the Internet; you can use download them for free and learn how to develop apps for iPhone apps. You might need t invest some time to study how to develop the best apps, and then how to market them over the net, but thereafter your creative ideas will take you far.

Even if you are not good at logic and math and programming is just not for you, you can still take help from professionals and pay iPhone developers to develop an app based on your idea. If your idea is really good, you could convince them to work for royalty from the sales of the app. And if your idea is really good and you are sure that the app based on your idea is going to sell like hot cakes, its best to pay the developer upfront and have complete control over all the profits on your iPhone app!

Once the app is ready, you just need to follow the simple guidelines on the iPhone app development store and list your app on the list of available apps. But there are millions of apps on the iPhone app store, and so you will need to do things to get publicity for your apps: get a website in the name of the app, try and make someone do a piece about in a magazine, keep your fingers crossed, and wait for the world to wake up to the proof of your genius!

Source: ezinearticles

The tale of the iPhone 5 prototype that was allegedly lost in a bar earlier this week just took a turn that gives the case new credibility. In a report from SF Weekly, the man whose home was allegedly searched by investigators for the missing device has come forward and described how he and his family were harassed by people who said they were cops.

Who were they really? At this point, it looks like at least some of them may have been Apple security personnel. If true, that could mean Apple employees impersonated police officers, a crime punishable by up to a year in prison and a fine of up to $2,000. There could be other charges as well.

On Wednesday, CNET reported that, in an incident eerily similar to last year's premature revelation of the iPhone 4, an Apple employee had once again accidentally left a prototype iPhone in a bar—this one a version of the upcoming iPhone 5. After it may or may not have been sold on Craigslist, Apple tracked the phone to a residence in San Francisco's Bernal Heights neighborhood.

The initial report said Apple investigators accompanied cops to the home, but now it appears that in fact no police were involved, the visitors instead merely claiming they were cops. Sergio Calderón, the man who told his story to SFWeekly says six people, four men and two women arrived saying, "Hey, Sergio, we're from the San Francisco Police Department."

Calderón said that at no point did any of the visitors say they were Apple employees. Hey says they made pointed queries about the immigration status of some of Calderón's family members and, wishing to cooperate, he allowed them to search his home and his computer. When the search failed to turn up the device, he says they offered him $300 if he'd produce it.

One of the investigators apparently gave Calderón his phone number before he left. Reporters for SFWeekly called the number and got Anthony Colon, who admitted to the paper he was an Apple employee. He also had a LinkedIn profile detailing his job as an senior investigator for Apple and a former cop, but that profile has since been removed (a cached version is here).

The story of the search of Calderón's house, if true, could mean a lot of trouble for whoever was involved, especially if they were in fact Apple employees and not active police officers. San Francisco criminal attorney Jai Gohel spelled out what the legal implications might for those individuals if that's the case.

"You're not talking about a constitutional violation if these weren't officers of the law," Gohel said. "But you could be talking about anything and everything from felony breaking-and-entering and burglary, as well as extortion, if the threat of turning in illegal immigrants happened. Then you could have impersonation of an officer and fraud. And if this was something more than Apple security going off the reservation, it could be big trouble for Apple."

The development illuminates why the San Francisco Police, when previously contacted by PCMag, had no knowledge of the case and could not track down a police report. It also explains why Apple Security didn't give SFPD any information when police began looking into the matter after several media inquiries.

If you're feeling déjà vu, you're not crazy. The case is oddly similar to what happened to a prototype of the iPhone 4 last year. In that case, the phone was ultimately sold to tech blog Gizmodo, which posted photos and a teardown of the device several weeks before its official release. The phone was eventually returned to Apple, though two men were recently charged in connection with the incident, pleading not guilty to the charges earlier this week.

Apple didn't respond to a request for comment. The San Francisco police told PCMag they are investigating a number of leads—we'll post updates as they come in. For more on what the iPhone 5 might be, see our slideshow of 8 Likely iPhone 5 Rumors, and 2 Wild Ones.

Source: pcmag

SmartPhones have realized a whole new digital marketing potential for businesses around the world. The iPhone (iPad), the Blackberry and Android lead the way allowing businesses to communicate with their customers in an engaging and very new way. Even so, iPhone Software Development seems to be leading the way onwards and should we say upwards.

Budget

In the hands of a professional and altogether rational application developer mobile applications can deliver significant advantages for both businesses and their customers. However, the problem for many organisations is finding a specialist software development team who can deliver iPhone Software Applications that realise the idea and remain within budget.

iPhone Software Development can be an expensive business. Depending upon the scope mobile applications can cost a few thousand or tens of thousands. A specialist iPhone Software Development Team will have the resources and experience it takes to give businesses total control over the creative process.

Realising Potential

Invariably how successful the application is will depend upon how the technology available is utilised: And that will depend upon the experience of the iPhone Software Team. Hence, regardless of how innovative the businesses mobile application idea in the hands of an inexperienced developer that idea will rarely be realised to its full potential.

There are many considerations to be made. Will you be charging a subscription? Will advertising be included? Choosing a Software Development Team to create a mobile application is an important decision. Before committing it is advisable to gain insight with regards to the options the team will be able to provide - Some will be more comprehensive than others depending upon their experience within this specific field.

Mobile Web Marketing

Mobile Applications can be used effectively within a business' online marketing strategies: Extending boundaries and reaching out to a wider audience being a valuable marketing asset. Therefore, opting for a specialist software development company who are also able to manage the marketing aspect of the application can often turn out to be another significant asset.

Advertising on website pages (Google and Yahoo being among the world's main mobile content providers) that have been specifically designed for access by SmartPhones is an option - although it is far from the only option: Indeed there are many options with regards to meeting the needs of the customer as well as increasing that customers need (desire) for the application. iPhone applications are just one of the mobile marketing opportunities available.

The Upshot

The bottom line with regards to successful iPhone Development is to establish what it is your business intends to achieve with that application - the targeted audience and the needs of that audience. Ultimately to deliver an application that will meet their expectations.

Source : Ezine

Nowadays everyone is dreaming to use iPhone as iPhone provides more and more application compare to other mobiles. iPhone is become most popular mobile in today’s market. You can develop iPhone application as per your requirement.

Designing and development of iphone application is not an easy task. You must need to consult professional iPhone application developers. In current trend there are so many application development companies available that provides services for iPhone Application.

Default iPhone is not providing all applications that you need in routine life like Bluetooth data transfer. You can develop Bluetooth data transfer application for your mobile by hiring professional iPhone application developers. After launching iPhone 3GS, new era of technology in mobile word has begun. Operating system of iphone is the most advanced platform that provide flexible environment to develop your liking application. iPhone 3GS has made revolution in mobile phone industry. so it is better for you to use it by developing your own applications.

Find what iPhone application development involves:

* Theme Development for latest iPhone 3GS
* Games Development
* Web Services Implementation
* Widget Development
* Social Networks Application Development like facebook, twitter, orkut
* Map Navigation Application
* Icon Design Development

So it is a wise option to purchase iPhone compare to others as you can get your liking application in your phone. To develop application for your iPhone you do not have to spend more money. You just need to consult professional application developers.

Source : hubpages

Source : ezinearticles