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Android Apps On Your PC: BlueStacks’ App Player Blows Past Half A Million Downloads

Posted: 06 Dec 2011 04:32 AM PST

136354v1-max-250x250

Back in May, BlueStacks, the startup that has developed software to let Android users run their apps on all Windows PC, tablets, and laptops, raised a $7.6 million series A, pre-launch. In October, the startup followed up with a $6.4 million series B from AMD, Citrix Systems, with participation from existing investors like Andreessen Horowitz, Ignition Ventures, and more.

Its series B round followed closely on the heels of the alpha launch of its App Player for Windows, which is basically a free software download that will give users one-click access to Android apps on any Windows PC, tablet, or laptop. (And the ability to view these apps in full-screen.) Complementing the App Player, BlueStacks also released "Cloud Connect", a cloud-based service that allows PCs to become a veritable extension of any Android-based mobile device — and vice versa.

While $14 million in funding seemed a bit bubble-ish for a startup with an alpha product (especially considering half of the investment was raised prior to to launch), we’ve learned from BlueStacks that the early adoption has been significant. Since launching six weeks ago, the startup’s App Player has been downloaded over half a million times, 550K+, to be more precise.

Of course startups are happy for all of us to fawn over vanity metrics, but the BlueStacks team did admit that this early adoption caught it by surprise. Especially the extent to which downloads are taking place outside of the U.S. The Americas account for 32 percent of the App Player’s downloads, with Europe and Asia both seeing over 31 percent of downloads as well. The startup recently expanded to support XP and Vista a couple weeks ago, as many Chinese users are still using XP, for example.

The App Player launched in October with several “app partners” pre-loaded, including Bloomberg, LivingSocial and Drag Racing. And we here more are on their way. In conjunction, there are over 250,000 apps available on BlueStacks’ Cloud Connect mobile app, which allows users to push apps from their phone into the startup’s player.

The early signs show that this is definitely a startup to watch, but chime in to tell us what you think. Is this a valuable technology?

Can We Stop The Copycat Apps?

Posted: 06 Dec 2011 03:31 AM PST

angry_birds (1)

Last month, Alexia posted a short manifesto (“Stop Making Apps”), which basically expresses a serious case of app fatigue. It’s something most of us can relate to, at least passingly, in spite of knowing there’s no end to app production in sight. As long as there are downloaders, more apps there will be.

While I encourage developers to continue making great apps, I do question the need for both making and for approving the parade of — for lack of a better word — “rip-off” apps. What am I talking about? Example: Over the last week, I’ve watched another fairly blatant copy of Angry Birds hover inside the “Top Free iPhone Apps” list on the App Store, even grabbing the second spot at one point.

I’m not naming the app explicitly, because I don’t want to give the game free publicity. That’s what they want, and it’s probably a good idea to avoid promoting the production and downloading of spammy (cr)apps. But needless to say, the scenario is familiar: The game’s icon is practically identical to that of Angry Birds, it has “Angry” in the title, the design and gameplay — while not exactly identical — have enough similarities to make for some serious eye-rolling. Not to mention, the game is awful. One-star reviews abound.

Again, this isn’t a new scenario. Om wrote about this last month. GamePro went a step further, publishing an awesome article which highlights the top ten Angry Birds rip-offs. They point out that, yes, Angry Birds itself is somewhat a mashup of games that came before it — some would say, a rip-off itself. And it’s no surprise that imitators keep popping up: Why wouldn’t you want to copy what is basically the most well-known mobile game on the planet? Of course, most app developers aren’t this lazy, but they suffer anyway right along with users.

The Android Marketplace, too, has seen more than its fair share of Angry Birds rip-offs. Their very presence in app stores is at least annoying, but in light of Apple’s “vaunted” approval mechanisms inside its precious walled garden, it becomes even more so. Now, I understand that it’s not Apple’s job to catch all rip-offs — nor should it be. Unless an app is directly infringing on copyrights or IPs, there’s nothing they can do. If developers like Rovio have a problem, they can contact distributors and ask them to remove the copycats.

Maybe for Apple to simply reject apps that seem too similar to others is a bad thing, as these rip-offs just represent micro-side-steps in a larger process of innovation and evolution — moving forward. But these imitator apps still crap-ulate app stores, take up space, and many of them are just terrible. Yes, it would be naive to think that the gaming of app stores doesn’t happen or, flatly, shouldn’t, but it still feels wrong. It’s stuff like this that leads us to mutter (or blog) “stop making (cr)apps”.

So, what do you think? Is this just an idealistic or unrealistic lament because the market will fix itself (among other reasons)? Are these imitators, in fact, good for business, or is there something we/disributors can do to curb the parade of rip-offs?

Excerpt image created by Constantin Potorac

EC Opens Antitrust Proceedings To Investigate Apple, E-book Publishers ‘Cartel’

Posted: 06 Dec 2011 03:06 AM PST

Crime Scene

The European Commission this morning announced that it has opened formal antitrust proceedings to investigate whether a number of international ebook publishers have engaged in anti-competitive practices affecting the sale of e-books in Europe, “possibly with the help of Apple” (which offers an e-book storefront called iBooks).

According to the press release, the opening of proceedings means that the EC will “treat the case as a matter of priority”.

The publishers that were identified in the announcement of the antitrust probe are Hachette Livre (Lagardère Publishing, France), Harper Collins (News Corp., USA), Simon & Schuster (CBS Corp., USA), Penguin (Pearson Group, United Kingdom) and Verlagsgruppe Georg von Holzbrinck (owner of inter alia Macmillan, Germany).

The Commission says it will, in particular, investigate whether these publishers and Apple have engaged in illegal agreements or practices that would “have the object or the effect of restricting competition” in the European Union or in the European Economic Area (EEA).

The commission is also looking into “agency agreements” between the publishers and e-book retailers, in collaboration with the UK Office of Fair Trading.

The EC says it is concerned whether some of the publishers’ and Apple’s practices “may breach EU antitrust rules that prohibit cartels and restrictive business practices”. The opening of the proceedings follows unannounced inspections that were carried out by the Commission at the premises of several e-book publishers in March 2011.

Serious stuff, in other words.

(Image courtesy of Flickr user alancleaver_2000)

Here’s the full press release:

Antitrust: Commission opens formal proceedings to investigate sales of e-books

Brussels, 06 December 2011 – The European Commission has opened formal antitrust proceedings to investigate whether international publishers Hachette Livre (Lagardère Publishing, France), Harper Collins (News Corp., USA), Simon & Schuster (CBS Corp., USA), Penguin (Pearson Group, United Kingdom) and Verlagsgruppe Georg von Holzbrinck (owner of inter alia Macmillan, Germany) have, possibly with the help of Apple, engaged in anti-competitive practices affecting the sale of e-books in the European Economic Area (EEA)1, in breach of EU antitrust rules. The opening of proceedings means that the Commission will treat the case as a matter of priority. It does not prejudge the outcome of the investigation.

The Commission will in particular investigate whether these publishing groups and Apple have engaged in illegal agreements or practices that would have the object or the effect of restricting competition in the EU or in the EEA. The Commission is also examining the character and terms of the agency agreements entered into by the above named five publishers and retailers for the sale of e-books. The Commission has concerns, that these practices may breach EU antitrust rules that prohibit cartels and restrictive business practices (Article 101 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union – TFEU).

The duration of antitrust investigations depends on a number of factors, including the complexity of each case, the extent to which the undertakings concerned cooperate with the Commission and the exercise of the rights of defence.

Background on the ebooks investigation

In March 2011, the Commission carried out unannounced inspections at the premises of several companies active in the e-book publishing sector in several Member States (see MEMO/11/126).

To date, the Commission and the UK Office of Fair Trading have investigated in parallel and in close cooperation whether arrangements for the sale of e-books may breach competition rules. Before the Commission opened formal proceedings, the OFT had closed its investigation on grounds of administrative priority. The OFT has made a substantial contribution to the ebooks investigation and will continue to co-operate closely with the Commission going forward.

Background on antitrust investigations

Article 101 of the TFEU prohibits agreements and concerted practices which may affect trade and prevent or restrict competition. The implementation of this provision is defined in the Antitrust Regulation (Council Regulation No 1/2003) which can be applied by the Commission and by the national competition authorities of EU Member States.

The legal base for the Commission’s opening of formal proceedings is Article 11(6) of the Antitrust Regulation (Council Regulation No 1/2003).

Article 11(6) of the Antitrust Regulation provides that the initiation of proceedings by the Commission relieves the competition authorities of the Member States of their competence to also apply EU competition rules to the practices concerned. Article 16(1) further provides that national courts must avoid giving decisions, which would conflict with a decision contemplated by the Commission in proceedings that it has initiated.

The Commission has informed the companies and the competition authorities of the Member States that it has opened proceedings in this case.

Japan’s GREE To Challenge Facebook And Zynga As Global Social Gaming Platform In 2012

Posted: 06 Dec 2011 12:52 AM PST

gree logo

Japanese mobile social gaming giant and Openfeint owner GREE has outlined today its previously announced plan to launch a mobile social gaming network for the global market next year. Details are (relatively) scarce at this point, but the publicly traded company (current market cap: US$7.5 billion) seems to be serious in positioning itself against Facebook Mobile as a gaming platform for smartphones.

In the press release, the word “Openfeint” not even appears once. Instead, GREE aims at launching a unified gaming platform that knows no borders: new users and the existing 155 million players on GREE in Japan and Openfeint worldwide will be able to use a single-sign on to register and play together. There will also be a payment system for virtual goods that works internationally and a “a series of robust out-of-network cross promotional opportunities” plus analytics tools for game developers on iOS and Android.

GREE is planning to launch the global gaming platform sometime between April and June 2012. In the end, GREE’s vision is to have 1 billion players on their platform (you read that right). The initial game line-up was unveiled at GREE’s portal for developers today, and includes titles from the company itself (as first-party titles), Capcom, Konami, Sega, Taito, and Square Enix.

Here are screenshots for Konami’s Dance Dance Revolution, GREE’s RPG doliland, and GREE’s fantasy strategy game Dragon Ark (from top to bottom):

The company is set to go head-to-head not only with Facebook Mobile, but also ngmoco owner DeNA (which has already launched Mobage in English for smartphones), and similar services like Heyzap, Gamewave from Japanese company CyberAgent, Apple’s Gamecenter, and others.

GREE has opened an office in San Francisco in January this year (GREE International) and either opened or is planning to open presences in Beijing, Seoul, Singapore, London, Amsterdam, Dubai and Sao Paolo. The company is on track to generate up to US$$1.8 billion in revenue and US$900 million in profit this fiscal: almost entirely in Japan, only with social games, and only on cell phones.

GREE CEO Yoshikazu Tanaka was a speaker at the TechCrunch Tokyo 2011 conference just last week. You can watch Erick Schonfeld’s interview in Tokyo with him here and dive into Erick’s comparison of GREE and Zynga here.

Sprint: No LTE-Friendly Hardware Until Second Half Of 2012

Posted: 05 Dec 2011 03:31 PM PST

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Today Sprint CFO Joseph Euteneuer said that the company plans on launching 15 LTE-capable devices next year, though they may be coming a little later than expected — the latter half of 2012, to be exact. The company had originally hoped for mid-summer launches with its first LTE-capable hardware, though either date is much later than the competition. Verizon is clearly up and running in the 4G LTE department, and AT&T is getting there.

Then, there’s Sprint.

The number three carrier is currently banking on its 4G WiMax network (courtesy of Clearwire). And by a slippery twist of events — including Clearwire’s once-impending interest payment and Sprint’s flat-rate bailout of said interest payment (among other things) — Sprint will probably get to hold on to its unlimited data plans for a little while longer. In fact, CNET reports that Euteneuer suggested Sprint would be doing more with unlimited data down the line, though unfortunately that won’t extend to LTE.

While Sprint has preemptively pledged $350 million to help provide support for Clearwire’s LTE rollout, the terms of last week’s agreement state that Sprint will be making usage-based payments for Clearwire’s LTE services. In other words, so will we.

According to Sprint’s Network Vision strategy, Sprint plans to cover 120 million people by the end of next year, and 250 million people by the end of 2013. Headway has already been made, too, deploying the first multi-mode base (that runs both 3G CDMA and 4G LTE).

Holding on to unlimited data, even if its WiMax data, will be important for Sprint moving forward. But the carrier’s push into LTE territory is what really counts, so hopefully we’ll see some top-notch devices supported by a solid LTE network in time for Christmas. Next year, of course.



Nextpeer’s Public Launch Brings Live Multi-Player Tournaments To Any Game

Posted: 05 Dec 2011 12:54 PM PST

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Today, the new multi-player gaming service Nextpeer is exiting its private beta period and is now available for all iOS developers to try. With the company’s software development kit (SDK), game developers can easily turn their single player games into social, real-time, multi-player tournaments where users compete against each other for top scores, achievements and virtual gold.

For those unfamiliar with Nextpeer, the service provides a way for mobile developers to upgrade their single player games to multi-player, just by dropping in the SDK . A Nextpeer-enabled game’s users can face off against in each other by competing for the best score during a timed tournament. During the tournament, gamers aren’t playing alongside each other in the sense that their characters are sharing screen time – they simply play the game as usual. Meanwhile, they’re also receiving updates as to their status versus the others in the tournament. (e.g. “Hurry up! You’re in 3rd place!”) This gives what had previously been a standalone game a sense of real-time action and excitement, and that can make the game more engaging and addictive.

Since its private beta launch in August, Nextpeer has signed up 250 developers and is now in the process of integrating its SDK into around 40 games. There are currently over half a dozen games available in the iTunes App Store featuring Nextpeer, including Chicken Rain, Word Flow, Slot Machine+, Hurry Honey!, Hold It Up, Pingo, and Castor Man, to name a few. The company says it’s on track to continue launching around 1 to 2 games per week going forward.

To date, Nextpeer users have played over 25,000 tournaments, says CEO Shai Magzimof. But what’s even better is the retention rate - 30% of the users go back to play again after 3 + days. And 10% of Nextpeer users take advantage of the in-game feature that allows them to discover and download additional games which offer Nextpeer tournaments. Users tend to average around 5 tournaments each, says Magzimof.

For now, there is no cost to integrate the Nextpeer SDK into a game, but Nextpeer does participate in revenue-sharing with those who allow users to place “bets” on games using the virtual gold. This split can vary depending on the game, but is around 50/50. Buying more coins via in-app purchases is not yet available, but is arriving soon. For now, there are other ways to earn currency (beyond the initial amount all players get), like daily bonuses, and, of course, winning. Also on the way is support for push notifications, which will allow users to invite friends to play with them in real-time. The Facebook integration will improved, too, so gamers can invite their Facebook friends to join them.

Below is a video showing the process of integrating Nextpeer into an app. From start to finish, it takes just 15 minutes:

Those interested in integrating Nextpeer into their own apps can grab the SDK from here.

iRobot, Makers Of The Roomba, Launch An iOS Game?

Posted: 05 Dec 2011 12:49 PM PST

Roomba Revenge

Every once in a while, a pitch hits our collective TechCrunch inbox that is equally ridiculous and intriguing. In a situation like that — one full of hilarity and intrigue — how can we not post it? That said, I really don’t know what’s going on over at iRobot, as the makers of the very popular robotic vacuum, the Roomba, have decided to branch way, way out there and create an iOS app called Roomba Revenge.

A few things worth noting before I continue: The app has absolutely nothing to do with the functionality of your Roomba. The app is a game, which has absolutely nothing to do with iRobot. And… The app is a game about cleaning. Well, vacuuming up dust bunnies if we’re getting really specific.

Obviously the ridiculous part of this pitch has made itself clear. But why is this intriguing you may ask? Well, I can’t seem to stop myself from wondering why iRobot would do this? Why, iRobot? Why?!

The pitch may have a few answers: “No, iRobot isn’t becoming a gaming company,” writes media rep Jennifer Kohanim. “They did this just because having fun and making cool stuff is part of their DNA. In fact, the idea for a game featuring the world-famous robot was born via a casual text-message conversation between two iRobot employees.”

Here’s how the app works:

You’re in a dirty room. You control the Roomba and your goal is to clean up the floor. If the floor isn’t clean before the time runs out on the clock, you lose.

Yeah, it’s pretty simple.

Roomba Revenage is available now for the iPad, iPhone and iPod touch in the Apple App Store for $0.99.



Gowalla Versus Foursquare: Why Pretty Doesn’t Always Win

Posted: 05 Dec 2011 12:45 PM PST

Gowalla Austin

Gowalla, the geo-social app, will soon be no more. The founders will be joining Facebook and shutting down the product a couple months after trying to reposition the app as a social travel guide. It was clear long ago that its rival Foursquare won the check-in wars, passing one billion check-ins recently and more than 10 million users. But why did it turn out this way?

Both Foursquare and Gowalla launched at the 2009 SXSW conference, and many people thought Gowalla was actually better designed. At least it looked better, with more whimsical badges, for instance. But pretty doesn’t always win. “Startups and businesses are like making wine,” says Gowalla investor (and vinophile) Gary Vaynerchuk, “it is a blend. It is not about one element. Design is one element.”

Another Gowalla investor explains the difference in one word: “Austin.” Gowalla was headquartered in Austin and Foursquare is based in New York. For a mobile social app that depended on urban density to gain early critical mass, New York gave Foursquare a hometown advantage over Gowalla.

Foursquare was able to build better network effects early on, and those just kept compounding. You don’t use Foursquare because it is a pretty app. You use it because all your friends use it, and because it is the geo-location platform across many apps. It is more useful because it touches more people and more apps that people care about.

The other thing about Foursquare is that it didn’t try to overcomplicate things early on. It did one thing very well: check-ins and rewards. Over time it added local recommendations and even pushed into city guides, but it remains mostly about the check-in. That’s what keeps people coming back to the app day-in and day-out.

Foursquare also has Dennis Crowley as a founder. Crowley has been obsessed with the idea of mobile social geo-location apps for a decade (he tried this once before and failed with Dodgeball). Gowalla founder Josh Williams is also very talented. “He's the kind of guy who I would back over and over,” says Vaynerchuk, even now. But again, that founder’s talent is just one element.

It’s not just the founder who counts. “I think Tristan is a massively underrated character in the whole story,” says Vaynerchuk, referring to Foursquare’s business development executive Tristan Walker. “His early biz dev deals gave them a lot of clout, with major brands like Starbucks lending their brand equity to Foursquare.”

Everyone has their own opinion on why Foursquare succeeded and Gowalla didn’t. I asked why on TWitter and got a ton of feedback, Here are a few of the responses below. Add your own theories in comments:


Erick Davidson
@ At first, Gowalla was all design and some usability whereas Foursquare just focused on check-in, so it made it simple.

Mike T
@ all in the name. Gowalla means nothing to people. Foursquare reminded people of their childhood(game of same name)

Sean Percival
@ For social apps design matters very little. It's all about being where your homies are at. Most were on FSQ.

Ben Popper
@ urban density of NYC vs Austin = stronger base of early adopters, perhaps?

Galaxy Nexus Shipments Begin Trickling Into Verizon Stores

Posted: 05 Dec 2011 11:14 AM PST

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Nearly everyone and their mother has pointed out that Verizon’s LTE-friendly Galaxy Nexus should be launching any day now, but here’s a new set of photos for those of you looking for something a little different to ogle. Courtesy of robertlawson225 on the xda-developers forums, we now have our first look at what may be the Galaxy Nexus in its retail finery.

Or is it? The box’s innards certainly look legitimate — the Nexus comes with the standard microUSB cable/AC adapter and a wired headset. The box proper, on the other hand, is mysteriously blank. Could this be a testament to the pure, untainted version of Android that the Galaxy Nexus bears? It’s possible, though I don’t know if Verizon places that much stock in the symbolism of their package design efforts.

There are a few possibilities, all of which are already being hotly debated on XDA. For what it’s worth, my money is on this particular unit being meant for life as a display unit or as the personal plaything of one of Verizon’s in-store device experts. Either way, it looks like the wait is very nearly over.

According to Lawson, Galaxy Nexuses are currently en route to Verizon stores as we speak, and Droid-Life’s sources peg the official release date as December 9. It’s so close, in fact, that I’m beginning to run out of minutiae of obsess over. If you’re anything like me — and I suspect some of you are — check out Jason Kincaid’s thorough dive into how the (GSM) Galaxy Nexus stacks up to the iPhone 4S.

Fruit Ninja Proves Its Chops As The Latest Mobile Game To Get Plush Toys

Posted: 05 Dec 2011 11:12 AM PST

Sensei

First you get the money. Then you get the power. Then you get the plush toys.

Finding some degree of success in the App Store is a challenge in itself — but maintaining that success long enough that your license is worth turning into real world stuffed wares? That’s an achievement few have managed to unlock. Angry Birds did it. Cut The Rope did it. Hoppin’ on the bandwagon today with its own line of plushies: Fruit Ninja.

Now, I know what you’re thinking: “LAWL! What are they going to sell? Stuffed apples? Stuffed bananas?”

Of course not. That’d be ridiculous. They’re selling stuffed watermelons.

They’ve also got a stuffed version of their relatively iconic old dude, Sensei.

The Sensei goes for $15.99, while the watermelon will go for $14.99 when it’s available in a few weeks. Wait, why does the watermelon get stiffed as the cheaper option? Just because he’s probably a bit easier to make and it’s probably kind of hard to convince kids to add “Stuffed watermelon” to their Christmas list? But it’s a watermelon! With eyes!

You can find the plushies over in the Fruit Ninja store. Congrats to the Halfbrick folks for breakin’ into the plush life.



Sony Ericsson To Rebrand In 2012, Aims For Top Of The Android Pack

Posted: 05 Dec 2011 08:58 AM PST

noericsson

Sony and Ericsson have made no secret of their impending split-up, but at the time of the announcement, the two didn’t have much to say about when the companies would officially go their separate ways.

That is, of course, until now: an executive source from within Sony told the Times of India that the mobile phone company will begin to fly solely under Sony’s banner by the middle of 2012.

The joint venture, which celebrated it’s 10th anniversary this past October, made waves earlier in the decade thanks to their scores of multimedia-friendly devices and successes in the burgeoning smartphone market. To say that their position has changed in recent years is putting it lightly — Sony-Ericsson is now the sixth-largest handset manufacturer in the world, and they’re preparing to put all of their eggs in a single proverbial basket.

Now, as the company has stated in their Q3 financials, it’s going to be all Android smartphones all the time. Killing off their feature phone portfolio going forward is a bold move, considering that companies like Nokia successfully milk developing markets while bolstering their smartphone lineup. Still, Sony Ericsson EVP Kristian Tear has high hopes for their Android-only push. He says that the company’s target is to become the number one Android player in the smartphone segment — a lofty goal, but will Sony actually make able to make good on their word?

Samsung currently occupies the seat that Sony wants to claim for themselves; the Korean company became the biggest smartphone vendor in the world in Q3 2011 for shipping 24 million smartphones. Sony Ericsson, on the other hand, shipped a relatively paltry 9.5 million units in total, and CEO/President Bert Nordberg stated that the company shipped 22 million Xperia smartphones through the end of October 2011. That’s right — Samsung shipped more smartphones in one quarter than Sony Ericsson’s flagship Xperia line has since it was released. Talk about David taking on Goliath.

Of course, having the full backing of Sony’s consumer electronics empire could help even the playing field. Once the buyout transaction is approved, one of the first things Sony’s mobile division will do is refocus on their advertising and marketing campaigns in an attempt to harness the power of the Sony brand. It’s a step in the right direction, but Tear feels that’s just the beginning:

“Sony is the world’s biggest entertainment company. We were earlier a 50-50 JV, but now that we are a wholly-owned subsidiary of Sony Corp, we expect to gain from its assets on the content, technology and brand side.”

Don’t Do It! New Siri Port H1Siri Is Illegal, Breaks Your iPhone

Posted: 05 Dec 2011 08:30 AM PST

sirilogo

iPhone jailbreakers should probably stay away from the latest Siri port, dubbed H1Siri, which brings Apple’s digital assistant to the iPhone 4. The new hack comes from a group of Chinese hackers calling themselves the “CD-Dev Team.” According to the team’s account on Weibo (a Chinese microblogging service similar to Twitter), the hackers had originally wanted to just run a small test, but the code was leaked. Now their servers can’t keep up with the demand.

But beyond server unresponsiveness, there are several other good reasons to skip this hack, including the fact that it seems to break people’s phones and involves running illegal code.

H1Siri (aka, Hi Siri!), for those of you tracking the Siri-hacking space, is a different hack from the one that emerged in October and the other arriving last month.

According to iDownloadBlog, which wisely advises readers to be wary of this new port after its own tests with H1Siri failed, the new port involves the use of copyrighted binaries from the iPhone 4S. Simply put, it works because it uses illegal code. Notable iPhone hacker @chpwn (Grant Paul), confirms this.

He also points out another good reason to think carefully before installing H1Siri on your iPhone 4: it gives the software’s creators access to your personal data:


Grant Paul
Please note: if you use a proxy to access Siri, you may be sending your Email, SMS, Calendar, Contacts, Location, etc though that server.

Grant Paul
(It's up to you if you want to accept that risk. It's also your choice if you want to violate copyright law to obtain the needed files.)

Those are all very good reasons to avoid H1Siri, but if your Siri lust can’t be assuaged, maybe this last bit of info will: the darned thing doesn’t really work.

Numerous posts from brave (crazy) early adopters report various complaints after installing. For example, it has been said to cause random reboots, break the camera, brick the phone, mess up the Settings app, cause the phone to get stuck at the Apple logo and other such things.

Guys, seriously…Siri is cool, but it’s definitely not worth all this.

EyeEm App Picks Up The Pace As Startups Fight For The Photo Crown

Posted: 05 Dec 2011 07:30 AM PST

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Pretender to the Instagram throne, EyeEm, a camera and photo discovery app startup, has launched a big update across its Android and iOS apps and the supporting web platform. It’s now even even more about visual, location-based search and has also introduced more social features.

For the last couple of years one of the main battles around smartphone apps has been around photo apps. One of the main ones to beat in this reach has been Instagram which recently reached around 14 million users, but there’s a battle going on in Europe for users which is perhaps less known but equally as fierce.



Retailers Aren’t Ready For iPad Shopping Trend

Posted: 05 Dec 2011 07:05 AM PST

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New data from Compuware finds conclusive proof of the popularity of iPads as a shopping device. The firm took a look at the website traffic for 70 U.S. retailers’ delivered to an iPhone or iPad over the start of the holiday shopping season (November 14th through Cyber Monday). On Thanksgiving, Black Friday and Cyber Monday, specifically, there were peaks in traffic with a high of 6,475,354 iPad pageviews on Black Friday alone, based on a statistical sample of more than 140 million pageviews.

To be clear, because this data was pulled from a sampling of tests, it does not indicate the total number of pageviews delivered to these 70 retailers’ sites. But because the sample is large enough to be statistically significant (140 million pageviews), it does show the impact of iPad traffic on e-commerce websites. In addition, the second chart (below) shows how the sites’ response times are impacted when the influx of iPad users hit.

Now for the bad news. Despite the increases in tablet traffic, many retailers are not prepared to accommodate these new mobile shoppers. Compuware also prepared a chart showing the top retailers’ sites, and whether or not they offered an iPad-optimized website. Surprisingly, none of them do, not even Apple.com. What’s worse, Apple is also among the retailers who don’t offer a native iPad application. (The iPhone Apple Store app runs on the iPad, of course, but it’s not a universal app). For shame!

Apple is not alone though. Around half of the 30 top retailers Compuware looked didn’t have an iPad application, either.

Want to see what a missed opportunity looks like? Check out the chart below:

Eat Smarter: Foodie.fm Debuts Personalized Grocery Shopping Platform

Posted: 05 Dec 2011 05:47 AM PST

foodie

This week at the Le Web conference in Paris, Foodie.fm will be formally launching its personalized social shopping platform for groceries. The Finnish startup basically aims to better inform shoppers about the food they buy, and help retailers communicate directly about the groceries they sell.

At the core of Foodie.fm is a recommendation system, which the company says relies on patent-pending technology, that learns from a user’s eating and purchasing habits, and suggests recipes and groceries that match his or her ‘taste profile’. The system takes into account personal preferences – think food allergies or intolerance, budgetary restrictions and predilections.

Read more at TechCrunch Europe.