99-cents posts

Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Gaming, Software, Developer, App Store

EA, Namco set sights on iPhone development

by Mike Schramm (RSS feed) on Jul 23rd, 2009

Two big gaming companies have made stark moves towards some major iPhone development in the future. Electronic Arts has made what seems to be the strongest move: they've put together a division in the company specifically for making iPhone games, and not just any games. Specifically, the kind that cost 99 cents.

8lb Gorilla is the name of the group they've put together in-house, and apparently it's a bunch of young developers given the task of putting together quick and cheap games about once a month that can sell for 99 cents, keep customers happy, and still bring in a profit for EA. The first title out of the group is a game called Zombies and Me, which appears to be an action game where you blow up zombies with explosives. Who wouldn't pay 99 cents for that one, right?

Namco is also making moves toward the platform, though not that specific (or risky, though EA's gambit could pay off big if the young devs turn out a hit). They've created an "Apple Games" division within their company, designed to make games specifically for the iPhone and iPod touch, and presumably for any other platforms that Apple decides to release games on. We hear the Mac is pretty popular -- does "Apple Games" include those other computers they make? Yet another Pac Man remake is the first title from them, but hopefully more original releases are coming.

Very interesting to see major companies start setting aside resources specifically to target the App Store's unique market. Mac gamers have been fighting for years to get devs to pay attention to their platform, and now it looks like Apple's handheld devices, along with the relatively easy money of the App Store, have finally done it.

Tags: 99-cents, app-store, attention, developers, division, ea, games, iphone, ipod-touch, namco, zombies-and-me

Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Software, Apple, iPhone, App Store, iPod touch

Would Blackberry's price minimum ensure a quality App Store?

by Mike Schramm (RSS feed) on Mar 6th, 2009

Here's an interesting idea for the App Store. Gizmodo posts that the new Blackberry "App World" has set a minimum price on its apps, asking no less than $2.99 for whatever you buy in there. At first glance, that's pretty rough -- there are a lot of free apps on the App Store right now that we wouldn't pay 99 cents for, much less $2.99. But then again, Gizmodo is willing to at least suggest the benefit of the doubt: maybe it's done on purpose, to get us past the scourge of the many fart and other useless apps populating the App Store. Maybe if every app is sold for $3 or more, they'll end up all being worth that much, too.

But we have to agree with Gizmodo's conclusion, too: while it would be nice if every app on the store was worth more than $3, there are definitely a few apps out there that are worth having the lower (and free) prices for. And to add to that, it's hard to believe that, even at $3, every app would strive to live up to that price -- most likely what will happen is that you'll end up with just as much crap on the Blackberry's store, except that you'll be paying $2 more for it.

Still, it's an idea. If Apple did a little price tweaking, is it possible that they could ensure a little more quality to what shows up on the store? Or, in the case of the junk that's on there now, will we just end up with higher-priced junk?

Tags: 299, 99-cents, app-store, app-store-pricing, app-world, apps, blackberry, gizmodo, iphone, ipod-touch, post, pricing

Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, iPod Family, Software, Odds and ends, Apple, iPhone, App Store

Test your hearing with Audiometry for the iPhone

by Mike Schramm (RSS feed) on Feb 4th, 2009

I was just listening to the great Sound Opinions music podcast the other day, and they had a woman on who was campaigning against hearing damage. In fact, she actually called out iPod headphones (as I was listening to the show on my iPhone) as one of today's leading causes of hearing damage -- too many people are listening to music through those headphones way too loud.

Unfortunately, the iPhone can't fix your ears (yet), but it can help you figure out if there's a problem: Audiometry is a 99 cent app that will test your hearing for you through a range of frequencies, and let you know whether your ears are blown out or whether you've still got some good vibrations left. The app plays a tone at each frequency, asks you whether or not you heard it (though you've got to be honest -- there were a few times I could hear the tone stopping and starting but not the tone itself), and then gives you a results list on how you did.

Future versions of the app will include a dB test (for loudness rather than just frequency), and the ability to save and share tests with others. It's hardly a substitute for going to a real ear doctor (if you have serious issues, you should definitely do that), but considering all the damage your iPhone may have done to your ears, the least it could do is help you figure out how much.

While you're at it, review this article from Apple on setting the maximum volume limit on an iPod.

[via textually.org]

Tags: 99-cents, app, audiometry, damage, db, ears, frequencies, hearing, hearing-damage, hearing-test, listening, sound-opinions, testing

Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Software, Freeware, iTunes, iPhone, iPod touch

2008 Best iPhone App Ever winners announced

by Mike Schramm (RSS feed) on Jan 9th, 2009

The voting only went underway a while ago, but they've just announced the winners for the 2008 Best App Ever awards, celebrating (according to 148apps.com and the people they got to nominate and vote in their contest) the best iPhone apps of last year. As I said for the voting, you can probably take most of this with a grain of salt, but there's no question that there are some awesome apps in here, and probably at least one or two you'll be interested in checking out if you haven't yet.

Shazam won big in the "Best Overall", "Most Innovative," and "Best WOW" categories, and that is well worth it: Shazam is super reliable and works great as a "music recognizer." Rolando picked up "Best Game Graphics," and "Best Game Controls." Fieldrunners also picked up two awards for "Best Strategy Game" and "Best Long-play Game."

Unfortunately, the much-despised (by me) Ocarina won three total awards, including "Best 99 cent app" (I would have chosen Koi Pond over that one easily and that's one where Weightbot was made to win), but feel free to ignore me and my iPhone app crankiness. There are lots of great iPhone apps here (especially when you dive into the nominations), and overall, we're looking at the best of a terrific first year of iPhone development. Onward to 2009!

Tags: 148apps, 99-cents, awards, best-app-ever, fieldrunners, koi-pond, ocarina, rolando, shazam, weightbot

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