Tablet Bucks

According to the website, TechInsights, the iPad’s motherboard seems to have an empty slot available for a gyroscope. The slot is located next to the accelerometer and near the applications processor and is fully pinned to a three-axis MEMS gyroscope manufactured by InvenSense.

This could possibly indicate an iPad with three axis control at some point in the future.

Back in June, TechInsights also revealed that the iPad and iPhone 4 share the same core processor as one of Samsung’s devices.

Despite being little more than a rumor, scouring the Internet for news on RIM’s Blackbery tablet will find oneself reading mixed opinions on the device. Many journalists seem to have taken a pessimistic view of it, some even comparing the idea of a companion device to the Palm Folio and suggest that the Blackberry tablet will find the same fate (in other words, will never be released due to high potential of being an utter disaster). I have quite a difference of opinion though.

There is no doubt in my mind that tablet devices will become a giant market segment and have a potentially lengthy life-span. The fact that iPads are beginning to outsell Apple computers makes this point hard to argue. So RIM taking a step into the tablet market isn’t unfounded. Arguments that RIM doesn’t belong in this market aggravates me. Sure they don’t already have any market penetration yet. But did Apple have any before the iPad? Did RIM have any smartphone market penetration before the Blackberry? The fact that a company does well in one segment shouldn’t preclude them from expanding into another. Especially when the segments compliment each other so well.

Cellular network technology is continuing to mature, get faster and cheaper. A companion device from RIM, who has established itself as a pioneer in the cellular industry, would therefore have the benefit of being able to scale up to the latest and greatest network technology if able to tether to a Blackberry. Consumers would indirectly have their tablet running on the latest and greatest network whenever they upgrade their mobile device. The lack of cellular functionality (besides wifi) in the tablet device would also bring down the cost substantially and allow RIM to escape having to support both CDMA and GSM networks in the tablet chipset. Add to that the fact that Blackberries continue to top the smartphone charts means that RIM already has a foot in the door with many potential customers.

Blackberry owners should ask themselves, “why would I buy a non Blackberry tablet when I can possibly get this companion device for less cost, that will integrate with my Blackberry, probably use my contact list and media and my data plan that is compressed and far cheaper than non-Blackberry data plans?” While 3G iPad users will be getting pounded by bandwidth charges, Blackberry tablet users will be able to enjoy some power usage with their ultra cheap and conservative data plans due to RIM’s constant pursuit of providing the complete experience from data bandwidth and cellular technology to user interface and interactivity.

No, I don’t believe that RIM’s Blackberry companion tablet will face the same fate as the Palm Folio. In fact, I have a hunch that it will be a marvelous success. In fact, I think that Blackberry companion devices are a new market that RIM should tap into even more. Heck, I’d like a watch that could run apps and tether to my Blackberry. Could potentially also monitor my vitals and email my parents should anything happen.

I can see it now – “Jamie’s pulse has dropped to 0. Sent from my Blackberry companion watch”.

The iPhone OS 4.0 looks awesome. No questioning that, but along with all the new features has come some changes to the terms of use of the SDK.

John Gruber of Daring Fireball made a post in his blog yesterday pointing out that section 3.3.1 of the new iPhone Developer Program License Agreement reads:

3.3.1 — Applications may only use Documented APIs in the manner prescribed by Apple and must not use or call any private APIs. Applications must be originally written in Objective-C, C, C++, or JavaScript as executed by the iPhone OS WebKit engine, and only code written in C, C++, and Objective-C may compile and directly link against the Documented APIs (e.g., Applications that link to Documented APIs through an intermediary translation or compatibility layer or tool are prohibited).

Suddenly a number of third party iPhone development tools (and the thousands of apps that have been created with them) are in jeopardy. Adobe was planning to include a packager for iPhone in Flash Professional CS5 to let developers publish ActionScript projects as native iPhone apps. Adobe isn’t the only company who’s effort to build a non Objective-C compiler may be sunk by these latest licensing terms.

Novell released MonoTouch last year – a .Net C# compiler that can build native iPhone apps. Despite a relatively steep cost, their community has been growing substantially. There has been no comments from Novell on Apple’s new terms, but it may be difficult for Novell to build a case that a C# compiler doesn’t violate them. C# is not Objective-C, C, C++ or Javascript.

In a similar boat (although perhaps a little less clear) are companies that have developed frameworks to enable app building with html and javascript. Appcelerator’s Titanium SDK and PhoneGap both fall into this category. PhoneGap tweeted yesterday, in response, suggesting that “everyone relax about the new policy. phonegap apps are accepted by apple.”. Around the same time, a blog post from Jeff Haynie, CEO of Appcelerator, was a little more cautious. In his blog post, Jeff says, “since iPhone 4.0 is still in beta, both the APIs and the Terms of Service are covered under NDA, so we cannot speak to specifics or Apple’s intent with its proposed language.” He then mentions that “you have our commitment that we will do everything possible to ensure that Titanium remains the outstanding platform for cross-platrorm application development for years to come.”

A post by raganwald on ycombinator nails the WTF on this… “Apple really wants to prevent people releasing multi-platform compilers. Adobe’s Flash compiler is a classic maneuver to ‘commoditize your complements”… Adobe want to lock developers into Flash and commoditize everything else as Flash-delivery devices. Apple want to commoditize applications and lock developers to their API’s.”

Although it is still relatively unclear what this all means to iPhone developers trying to scrape out a measly living with the platform, it is concerning. My suggestion is simple – if you’re now just looking at development with the iPhone/iPad, don’t rely on a third party framework. Learn Objective-C and you can still throw up a Safari UIWebView and build 90% of your app in Javascript and HTML.

For the indi iPhone app developers, making ends meet these day might seem difficult.  Spend a month or more working feverishly on a project to find yourself amongst a pile of competing apps all bidding for buyers at the bottom of the barrel 99 cent price point.  Bringing in $20 per week is doing well.  Hardly an income to live on.

Fortunately, the iPhone app boat isn’t the only boat sailing and the more available platforms, the more possibilities and greater market penetration available.  Android and Blackberry are already two other platforms that cater to app developers, although arguably not as well (it is safe to assume that this will change).  Another emerging market is that of the Windows 7 phone.

At the MIX 2010 conference this week, Microsoft showed off some of the tools that Windows 7 Phone developers will have in their arsenal.  In a nutshell, developers will be packing heat Visual Studio style with the XNA or Silverlight platforms.

Requirements for a developer are, at minimum, in a complete polarization from Apple, a Windows PC and Microsoft Visual Studio Express 2010.  This is good.  C# has a advantages over Objective-C (in my opinion).  With the likes of garbage collection, it could be probably be considered simpler to program with.  And for those “I’m (usually) a PC” guys who might consider switching from iPhone development, the home and end keys will work again.  Assuming that the Visual Studio crowd outnumbers the XCode crowd a billion to one (not exactly), Microsoft is likely sittin pretty with so many devs already familiar with the tools.  Of course, developers will still need to pick up the lingo of the XNA or Silverlight worlds.  For Android and Blackberry developers, familiar with Java, the similarity of C# should make it an easy port.

Taking a look at the distribution models that developers will have at their disposal, app monetization will be come in the form of app purchases, with the possibility of developers offering demos or trials.  As one would also suspect, advertising will also be available but unlike recent innovations in the iPhone camp, Microsoft doesn’t seem to be offering any in-app purchasing (yet anyway).

All in all, I can see this platform taking off from a developer perspective, assuming that Microsoft also creates a straight forward app distribution model and the app approval process isn’t hampered.  Given Microsoft’s success with XBox Live, I suspect that, although there may be growing pains in its maturing, Windows Phone 7 will have a fairly robust (and successful) app program, quite probably leading to an increased usage of the Windows mobile platform.  Time will tell.  But in the meantime, download a copy of the development tools now and get your WinFart apps ready for deployment!

Gamesalad (gamesalad.com)

GameSalad is essentially a point and click, drag and drop game creation program that allows the creative among us to finally create games for the iPhone and iPod Touch without any programming necessary.  The product is tagged as “Game Creation for the Rest of Us”.  Complete with templates (yes, a basic shoot-em-up is just one click away) and sprites from butterflies to zombies.

Gamesalad also allows publishers to upload web versions of their games (and offers hosting to boot).  For iPhone publishing, you need to purchase a membership to Gamesalad.com.  Game creators can choose either the $99 yearly membership rate or the the pro rate for $1999 per year.  The $99 membership adds a few constraints to the feature set of the game, but both memberships give game creators all royalties earned from the game in the App store.  From what I can tell, apps built with the Gamesalad membership are injected with a Gamesalad splash screen.  But since you’re collecting all the royalties from the sale of the app, who cares, really.  Note that this cost does not include the $99 yearly iPhone developer program membership fee for Apple.

Ansca Corona SDK (www.anscamobile.com)

Ansca claims that with the Corona SDK, a developer can create “high-performance multimedia graphically rich applications and games for the iPhone.  No Objective-C/Cocoa required, and no C++”.

Instead of using Apple’s Objective-C, you use Lua (Loo-ah), a powerful, fast, lightweight embeddable scripting language (www.lua.org).

Similar to Gamesalad, in order to build applications for the App Store with the Corona SDK, you must purchase a $99 yearly membership fee.  The biggest difference that I can see between the Gamesalad and Corona membership programs is that at the $99 rate, the app isn’t injected with a branded splash screen.  In fact, people who download the app will have no idea that it was built under the Corona SDK program. Note that this cost does not include the $99 yearly iPhone developer program membership fee for Apple.  Also note that the homepage for Corona says that the iPad is “Coming Soon…”

QuickConnect (quickconnect.sourceforge.net)

QuickConnect is a “family of frameworks” for a variety of platforms including the iPhone, Android, Symbian and Blackberry for creating mobile applications.  QuickConnect essentially allows you to program iPhone apps using html, javascript, css and all that jazz.  The framework provides hooks for iPhone functions such as GPS, audio, SQLite database, accelerometer information, etc…

Using the QuickConnect framework, you don’t have to sign up for anything.  In fact, it’s completely free.  You simply import the template for the platform that you’re developing for, write your html and javascript and you’re gold.  Of course, there will be less features available, compared to what either Gamesalad or Corona SDK offer, but for simple applications, this may be the ticket to an incredibly quickly developed product. Again, xcode and an Apple Developer Program license are required in order to build and distribute applications.

PhoneGap (phonegap.com)

PhoneGap is similar to QuickConnect, in that you use javascript and html to develop your application, however it seems to be a little more polished of a framework.  You will need to know javascript fairly well.  From what I’ve seen, however, most web developers wouldn’t have a problem using the framework.

Bonus with PhoneGap is that it’s completely open source (ie pretty much free for developers).  The user base seems fairly significant and it looks like quite a few apps have been developed with it.

NimbleKit (www.nimblekit.com)

Again, this is another framework that allows you to develop iPhone apps with your web development skills.  Unlike some others, however, NimbleKit is not free or open source.  To build apps for distribution, it costs a one time fee of $99 to use NimbleKit.  Again, similar to Gamesalad and Corona, this is on top of the $99 Apple iPhone Developer Program fee.
NimbleKit does seem to give programmers a greater number of features than PhoneGap though, including the ability for apps to play internet video and audio streams.

MonoTouch (monotouch.net)

Here’s something a little different than the rest.  If you’re looking to produce compiled code for the iPhone but aren’t up for objective-c and otherwise do have some C# .Net skills, then MonoTouch may be exactly what you’re looking for.  MonoTouch allows developers to create C# .NET applications that run on the iPhone and iPod Touch.  The developers of MonoTouch have also ported many great frameworks to the platform, even frameworks for getting Apple push notification working with your .NET app.

This may be very cool stuff, but it does come with a pricetag that most iPhone developers probably may not be to interested in.  At $399 for the Professional edition, it is pretty steep when compared to offerings from other companies.

Appcelerator Titanium Developer (www.appcelerator.com)

Appcelerator Titanium Developer is another product that allows developers to code their iPhone or Android apps with good old HTML and Javascript.  It may be the most feature filled framework of its kind and has recently announced iPad support.

Titanium Developer is available on Windows, Mac and Linux platforms (although for iPhone development, xcode is obviously also needed and therefore a Mac is required).  Despite having a large feature set and a huge active developer base, Titanium Developer is somehow free.

So you have your million dollar iPad App idea.  What now?  How best to get your thoughts organized?

Personally, I’m a huge fan of the paper and pencil method for getting a high level wireframe together for any application – web, desktop or otherwise.  A wireframe is more or less a mock-up of the UI.  Doing a once through on paper is simple, quick and can help you get your thoughts together and written down.

Sometimes I use grid paper.  Other times a napkin.  For iPad development, I created this seriously simple template that I can print and use.  Perfect for getting my app workflow and UI design organized.

The template is simple, but effective and available for FREE right here:

The tablet device market is definitely going to be the next big thing. The iPad could possibly be considered as the catalyst towards this new computing paradigm, but it certainly won’t be the only contender.

Although Dell hasn’t really made much of a mark as far as smartphones are concerned, it is poised to make a fairly large and early dent in the tablet device race with their initial offering, the Dell Mini 5 Tablet, set to launch in the next few months. If the popularity of the Dell Mini Netbooks are anything to go by, the Mini 5 Tablet will be a sure hit. Considering that it also has a few additional things up its sleeve when compared to the iPad, who knows… perhaps it will actually be a tight race to the top.

Dell Mini 5 Tablet Specs:

• 1 Ghz Qualcomm Snapdragon QSD8250 processor
• 405MB RAM
• 1.63 GB internal storage
• microSD slot for expanding the storage
• 720p Video support with HDMI output
• Wifi, bluetooth, 3G equipped
• Integrated GPS
• Android 2.x operating system (Froyo perhaps?).
• 5 MP camera with dual led flash (plus a forward facing camera, presumably for video calls)
• 5 inch (800×480) capacitive multi-touch screen

This is loads more functionality than the iPad, although the larger screen real estate of the iPad (at 9.7 inches at 1024×768) is certainly an advantage that Apple will have out of the gates. What could be a big win for Dell though is that it is rumored that the Mini 5 will be running FLASH as well, where it’s almost a given that the iPad will never see the FLASH. The Dell will also likely have fewer constraints than the iPad and will have multitasking capabilities.

What the Dell Mini 5 won’t have, however, is the hundreds of thousands of apps in the incredibly successful iPhone App Store. The Dell will also probably be somewhat costlier as it will be shipping with integrated camera, GPS and more connectivity options (one could also argue that the smaller screen and less internal storage could offset the costs and it would be comparably priced against the iPad). But don’t let this detract you from developing applications for the Dell. While most people will be developing their apps for the presumably successful iPad, other players will be quietly exploiting the smaller Android market with probably significantly less competition, at least initially.

When Apple launched the iPhone and iPod Touch App Store, apps suddenly absolutely took off. Within months there were more gimmicky type apps that were pulling some serious cash. These simple apps – farting apps, joke apps, simple logging apps – they all had something in common. They were quick to develop, very straight forward, could probably have been developed in a number of days (or weeks at most) and appealed to the masses because of their novelty.

The iPad is going to be no different. If you’re on the fence about developing something for the iPad, now is the time to jump in, head first and get your novelty idea out there. Believe it when I say that those novelty apps are going to go like hotcakes when the iPad first comes out – especially those that are made for the iPad (versus those that are made for the iPhone and would then have lower resolution and wouldn’t use the new iPad features).

But if you’re not a developer, there is still hope. Appcelerator, the company behind the Titanium mobile app development suite has announced support for the iPad. The news release can be found here, but a few quotes:

Appcelerator will begin allowing developers to create iPad applications in an upcoming Titanium beta release in February. Developers can download Titanium today from www.appcelerator.com.

In demonstrating its support for the new iPad, Appcelerator said that it had successfully tested Titanium’s comprehensive test suite application “Kitchen Sink” on the iPad. In a statement via Twitter on Wednesday, Jeff Haynie, CEO of Appcelerator, tweeted “Apple iPad simulator running Appcelerator Titanium Kitchen Sink 0.9

With just some html and javascript knowledge, you can be off to the races with iPhone development and, fingers crossed, soon iPad development and you can get your ideas out there into the app store as soon as possible.

Make no mistake, if Steve Jobs came out on stage at an Apple press conference and announced that they were coming out with $500 touch screen toilet paper called iTP, the World would still have mad Apple love and Twitter would be buzzing with multi-touch toilet paper envy. The fan base that Apple has secured is certainly not without merrit. When Jobs came back to Apple in 97, the slew of inspiring tech that came out of the company, with slick design and spot on marketing, arguably took it from being a supplier of niche products to becoming a brand with almost mind controlling powers. And like it or not, the iPhone could potentially be considered as the catalyst for the biggest paradigm shift in consumer technology in the last 20 years.

If you asked me 4 years ago if a multi-touch 3.5 inch screen mobile phone with great software support would be an amazing seller, I would have said yes, regardless of which company produced it. It was exactly what the general consumer didn’t know they needed. The iPad though? It can’t be carried in one’s pocket. Face it folks, it has limitations:

• can’t take pictures.
• wouldn’t be a very good portable music player.
• certainly wouldn’t be useful as a phone.
• no FLASH support
• no multi-tasking

At least that’s the kind of criticism I hear about the iPad – even from the zanny Apple lovers. And when most people speak positively about it, I don’t hear much that would convince my mother that the iPad was something she needed. When I asked my nephew what he thought about the iPad, he almost started foaming at the mouth. But when I ask what it is about it that he likes, his vague descriptions made it sound like the iPad is simply a large-screen iPod that is less effective than my $250 netbook. To some extent, perhaps it is.

But I believe that most people’s expectations of what the iPad should have been was grounded on, more or less, in what the iPhone and netbook or laptop are. The iPad will be neither of those. And it wasn’t meant to be.

• the smart phone or mobile device – fits in the palm of your hand
• the netbook or laptop or desktop – to do things that would otherwise require a keyboard and large(er) screen (not necessarily just email – documents, programming, photo manipulation, etc)

So where does the iPad fit in? It’s a tablet and as such fits squarely (with rounded edges of course) between the mobile device and netbook/laptop. It may be able to do some of the things that both of those devices can do, but will definitely not surpass them in their ability to do various specific things well (phone, writing, programming, music player, photoshop, etc).

The challenge that will face most consumers is getting over their expectations. I forsee lots of unsatisfied iPad buyers on launch day.

There is also a challenge facing software developers targeting the iPad. You can simply take your iPhone apps and blow them up for the larger iPad format. Doing so, however, don’t expect much. Those iFart apps lose their luster on the larger format. Or not… fart noises are still hilarious. But you get the idea. The iPad requires remodeling, rethinking, a different approach.

The question remains – what are some of the practical applications for the Apple iPad? Let’s not really discuss specific apps, but more target markets… I’ve been thinking about this and have some ideas.

Clipboarders - Anyone who would carry a clipboard or visit clients. This includes real estate agents, insurance agents, door to door solicitors, FedEx carriers, physicians, auditors, fitness professionals… the list goes on and on. Each of those markets could likely benefit from niche applications catering to what they would otherwise do with a clipboard or perhaps on a laptop.

Couch surfers – This market includes people who semi-casually want to look something up or show someone something while at home, probably sitting on the couch (or other place, unfortunately probably also including the toilet for some). Could be movie listings, the weather, photo albums, the family tree, security cameras feeds, youtube videos, TED Talks, vodcasts, Discovery Channel tv shows that you can’t watch because the rest of your family is hogging the tv… This list is endless. Sure these applications could possibly work just as well on a different device, but the iPad definitely has a market for these kinds of things and this is the kind of market that most developers will likely target.

Readers – People do still read books. Sure the iPad may not be as good as an e-ink device for reading, but I’m sure the market for ebooks on the iPad will be huge. I’m also sure that many iPad owners will additionally own a Kindle or other ebook reader that is specifically made for such a task. We aren’t heading to a single device World any time soon.

Makers – The makers market is probably one of the smaller markets that could be targetted by the iPad. Programmers would obviously have a hard time writing anything of any significance on the iPad. Writers would likely be somewhat unproductive at writing their next novel without a true keyboard. But for cooking, baking, music making, finger painting, proofing and other things that don’t necessarily require external input devices, there is room for some innovative applications. Of course, Steve Jobs is anti-stylus for some reason. He was quoted as saying “yuck” regarding a stylus. The lack of which means less impact to the maker market. The inability of the iPad to use a regular stylus may not be a huge constraint though as there are indications that third party companies have created a compatible stylus. Having this would no doubt increase the market penetration of the iPad on the maker category.

Gamers – This is obvious. At the iPad press conference, some low key uninspiring game demos were shown. I’m not convinced that driving games will rock on the iPad as much as they do on the iPhone, but there is no doubt an incredible oportunity for game developers to port or create for the iPad. With the larger screen dimensions, even two player board games are possible. Checkers or Go anyone??

Expectations that the iPad would be a device all encompasing in its ability to adequately handle all activities from A to Z is unrealistic. Also unrealistic is the idea that the iPad should have features that simply work better on other devices. It is not a camera nor is it a mobile phone. The iPad is what it is and will be successful in its own right. When I want to talk on the phone I will use my Blackberry. When I want to listen to music, I’ll use my iPod. To take a picture I’ll continue to use my SLR and to read an ebook from the comfort of my couch, well when the iPad comes out, I’ll probably use that.