Latest Entries
Mobile Marketing
03 February '10 by admin, under Uncategorized.
I did a short impromptu presentation on mobile marketing recently in December 2009 and decided to put it up on slideshare on a whim, as well as to try to experience what slideshare is about. Fast forward a few months later, mobile guru Tomi Ahonen tweeted about my presentation on slideshare and within a few hours, I got an email from slideshare that my presentation slide was experienced a high volume of views and it is now on the “Hot on twitter” section on the front page of slideshare.
This got me pretty excited as this has validated my view on mobile marketing and how it will be poised to take off since consumer smartphones are becoming more popular and cheaper as days goes by. With all the features of consumer smartphones, mobile marketing will grab even more headlines in the months and years to come.
Anway, here is the link to my slideshare presentation
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Hang on to your seats, we ain’t seen nothing yet
20 January '10 by Gibson, under Wireless Space.
Having developed mobile applications for 6+ years. I have observed many trends in the mobile space such as 3D etc and yet, there was 1 trend that I failed to spot back when the Motorola ROKR was the mobile phone that Apple produced in a partnership with Motorola and the iPhone was just a prototype in Apple’s lab in Cupertino.
Moore’s law states that computing power will double every 24 months. But I was unable to reconcile it with the explosion of mobile and the introduction of a new mobile phone market segment called “The consumer smartphone”.
A long time ago, smartphones were the must-have accessories of high powered executives and CEOs who needed the 24 by 7 access to their emails on their mobile and devices such as Blackberry, Windows Mobile blossomed and grew by catering to this market segment
But with the introduction of the iPhone to the consumer market, this has opened up a new category of mobile users who use smartphones to email their friends, not their colleagues. Plus, with Moore’s law driving down the cost of the mobile phone processors while providing more power. Phone manufactures are now able to produce smartphones at a cheaper price and then sell it to the mass market by pricing it within their reach.
Even Blackberry which traditionally catered to executives, have been marketing their new smartphones to the mass market after realizing what a big market this is and the same goes for the other guys such as Windows Mobile etc.
Now, with the better web browsing experience that smartphones offer(Except for Blackberry which still have lousy browsers) and faster speed and more bandwidth. The possibilities for mobile is now endless, so be prepared for the mobile revolution to fully take off and consumer smartphones to be the vanguard leading the way. Therefore hang on to your seats, cause we ain’t seen nothing yet
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Mobile marketplace comparison chart
13 January '10 by admin, under Uncategorized.
Here is an excellent link regarding the marketplace difference between Windows Mobile, Android and iPhone. The article also covers other areas such as ease of development resources, submission procedures etc. If anyone is interested in going into mobile development, the article is a definite must read.
http://www.codeproject.com/KB/mobile/wm_iphone_android_market.aspx
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Adobe Flex tutorial + Facebook API = Not Very Good
17 November '09 by Gibson, under Uncategorized.
Wanting to try my hands at integrating Adobe Flex with their Facebook API. The 1st stop was to Adobe’s website where I found this tutorial on creating a Flex application and adding their Facebook API (Note : This is a standalone Flex app, not a Facebook Flex app). The tutorial went well and was simple enough to follow. The only problem is that logging into Facebook from the Flex app produces a popup window.
Next, I went to the next tutorial which covers deployment of a Flex app into a Facebook iFrame which was what I wanted. So I went through tutorial #2 and when I ran my Flex app from my Facebook account. The same popup window appears.
Now, I have played enough Facebook games to see that they do not have this popup window when the games prompt me to grant them permission, so why does this Adobe Flex tutorial show this popup window? Besides, some people who use popup blockers may not see the popup.
Looking around, I found nothing that could solve my problem until I was randomly reading articles on Flex and Facebook development when I came to clue #1 which was this tutorial regarding SWFObject
Then my “programming” sense kicked in and I started to sniff around google for clues. After a few hours of searching and editing, I finally discovered how to get rid of that irritating popup window and put everything on 1 canvas. So here are the steps which I will outline
- Create a swfproxy.php PHP file and add this into the PHP file so that it consists of only this
<?php
header('Content-type: application/x-shockwave-flash');
header('Expires: Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 GMT, -1');
header('Cache-Control: no-cache, no-store, must-revalidate');
header('Pragma: no-cache');
echo file_get_contents($_GET['swf']);
?>
- Copy the entire line of code and insert your Facebook app API key and change the swfobject.embedSWF(”swfproxy.php?swf=fbconnect.swf” segment where you replace fbconnect.swf with the name of your swf file (e.g swfproxy.php?swf=foo.swf) and save the file as index.htm
<html>
<head>
<title>Main</title>
<!-- include swfobject library -->
<script type="text/javascript" src="swfobject.js"></script>
<script type="text/javascript">
function navigateTo(url)
{
window.parent.location.href = url;
}
function openURL( url, target )
{
try
{
var popup = window.open( url, target );
if ( popup == null )
return false;
if ( window.opera )
if (!popup.opera)
return false;
}
catch(err)
{
return false;
}
return true;
}
</script>
</head>
<body>
<script src="http://static.ak.facebook.com/js/api_lib/v0.4/FeatureLoader.js.php" type="text/javascript"></script>
<script type="text/javascript">
//define your flashVars from the URL GET string
var flashVars = {};
var api_key = "";
var channel_path = 'xd_receiver.htm';
FB_RequireFeatures(["XFBML"], function(){
FB.Facebook.init(api_key, channel_path);
});
var fb_sig_added = 0;
var strHref = window.location.href;
if ( strHref.indexOf("?") > -1 ) {
var strQueryString = strHref.substr(strHref.indexOf("?")+1);
var aQueryString = strQueryString.split("&");
for ( var iParam = 0; iParam < aQueryString.length; iParam++ ) {
var aParam = aQueryString[iParam].split("=");
flashVars[aParam[0]] = aParam[1];
if (aParam[0].toLowerCase() == "fb_sig_added")
{
fb_sig_added = aParam[1];
}
}
}
// first check if they have authorized the app, if not
// redirect them to the login page.
if (fb_sig_added == 0)
{
//alert('0')
window.parent.location = "http://www.facebook.com/login.php?api_key=" + api_key + "&v=1.0&canvas=1";
}
else
{
// load the flash movie.
swfobject.embedSWF("swfproxy.php?swf=fbconnect.swf", "flashContent", "700", "500", "9.0.0", "expressInstall.swf", flashVars);
}
//create your instance of your .swf
</script>
<!-- this is where your flash content will be placed when created -->
<div id="flashContent"></div>
</body>
</html>
- Download the SWFObject Javascript file and unzip it to a folder
- Do the same for xd_receiver.htm
- Put xd_receiver.htm, expressInstall.swf(Look in the SWFObject folder), swfproxy.php, index.htm, swfobject.js and your swf file all into the same directory
Now, if you have done everything correctly, you will see the disappearance of that irritating popup window and the “grant permissions” window appearing in the same window as your canvas
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Google Wave not exactly making waves
13 November '09 by Gibson, under Uncategorized.
When Google Wave was announced, there was big hooha surrounding it. But months down the road, somehow it still has not been met with widespread adoption as their other phenomenally successful product GMail. Wanna know why? Read on to find out more
#1 – A Google Wave user can only communicate with another Google Wave user. Whereas with GMail, I can use it to send emails to my friends’ hotmail, rocketmail(Does it even exist now?) email accounts, so Google Wave is a victim of the negative network effect (Not many friends = not many users which leads to not many friends again, the downward spiral continues)
#2 – Although Google Wave is meant to be a collaboration software or a reinvention of email now. But the idea of using 2 email accounts for personal use is beyond most people. I know of only a handful of people who use multiple email addresses for their personal emails while the rest are just content with 1 email address. So, 1 way to increase usage of Google Wave is to put a link in the GMail interface so that people can access Google Wave from their Gmail accounts without going to http://wave.google.com and logging in again.
Google Wave sounds very good and I do see some potential in it, but technology without the people using it, is useless as technology was created to serve people.
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A small step for Android, a big step for developers
11 November '09 by Gibson, under Uncategorized, android, iphone.
I was happy to hear that Android 1.6 supports the changing of resolution on the fly using code, as now that Android is coming out on so many handsets and all of them have their own screen sizes. This will present a problem for developers who are developing apps or games for Android as fragmentation is a huge issue for developers.
But a closer look at the documentation on Android’s website shows that it is not exactly what I hoped it was. You can’t exactly change the resolution on the fly, but you can specify what type of screen size your app will support and the OS will try to do it’s best to fit everything. So ultimately, this is a big step closer for Android and a game changer for Android developers.
No wonder there are anecdotal evidence that developers are now swarming over to Android.
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Journey to Windows Mobile #5
20 October '09 by Gibson, under Uncategorized.
Windows Mobile 6.5 was launched recently with a slew of new devices supporting it. But what was more important was that it launched in tandem with Windows Marketplace for Mobile after Apple shows all the others the power and profits of an app store. Being 1 of the early guys to port my iPhone app over to Windows Mobile. I am also privy to some of its’ teething problems.
1 issue I had was that after submitting my app, I then decided to change the email address in my Windows Mobile Developer catalog to another email address. That was when things went awry.
After that, I decided to submit an app for certification to the Singapore market and there, an error message hit me right smack in the face. The error message said something to the effect that “My account is not enabled” and I can’t submit an app yet. As Bill & Ted would say “Whoa!”
So, I quickly dropped an email to my local Microsoft representative who then gathered all the necessary screenshots and information from me regarding the error. Then he proceeded to send it to the guys in charge and 2 weeks later, my problem was solved.
So now, I am back to being able to submit my apps for the Windows Mobile Marketplace. Microsoft’s eagerness to get developers on board for their Windows Mobile Marketplace shines through in this aspect.
On an unrelated note, Android 1.6 now supports scaling which means that I do not have to recode my games to support different screen sizes and I can just maintain 1 code base. This will be a boon for all game developers everywhere, mobile or not. Now, if only the WIP Windows Mobile 7 will support this mode. Then, we will certainly be living in interesting times. At least for the mobile side of things.
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For mobile, size does matter
18 October '09 by Gibson, under Uncategorized.
Having 2 mobile internet browsing devices, namely my iPod Touch and my Nokia E63. I use both of them to access the internet on the go. Namely, my E63 when I am on the train or bus where Wifi coverage is non existent and my iPod Touch when I have access to Wifi.
My E63 has wifi capability and also mobile internet access so that I can truly access the internet wherever I can get a mobile connection, so why don’t I use my E63 when I have access to wifi? Well, the reasons are
1) My iPod Touch and my E63 have the same screen resolution of 320 x 480, but my iPod Touch has double the mobile screen estate which makes browsing a breeze since I do not have to do so much scrolling when I am surfing websites
2) The Safari browser on my iPod Touch is light years better than Nokia’s default browser and also much better than Opera Mini which I have installed on my E63
With the recent announcement of huge losses made by Nokia. Perhaps, I would advocate that Nokia get their marketing guys to get out of the building and find out what their customers really want, so that they can stem this huge financial blood loss.
1 of Nokia’s strengths is in distribution, but this can’t help them if they still don’t get their act back together.
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Journey to Windows Mobile #4
08 October '09 by Gibson, under Uncategorized.
Ok, I submitted the Windows Mobile port of my iPhone game Piecehunters over to the Windows Mobile Marketplace for review on a Sunday night. Having heard that it would take about 1 month, I didn’t expect a reply or email anytime soon. Therefore, I was amazed when I got an email on Tuesday afternoon saying that my game was approved and I can then log in plus put it into the catalog for sale. This is 1 aspect where Microsoft has surpassed Apple when it comes to the App Store.
2 days from submission to completion is fast, real fast. Even Apple took 1 week for reviewing apps when they opened the doors to their App Store in July 2008. But then I discovered something else. I submitted my game to the US catalog and when I decided to add SG(Singapore) as an additional market to the catalog, I was told that it would cost an additional $10 USD and it would also mean that my game would be under review again.
$10 USD may sound atrocious when you consider Apple’s $99 USD free-for-all submission process. But this also has the effect of encouraging more developers to put paid apps in the Windows Mobile Marketplace rather than free apps. After all, if you put a free app into 10 different markets, you incur a loss of $100 USD which you won’t be able to recoup back.
But when I consider that it only took 2 days from submission to approval, I am pretty happy to pay a small additional fee to save me 1 month of waiting. After all, time is money and Windows Mobile Marketplace still has some kinks to iron out.
1 of the kinks occur when you change the contact email of your account and then you try to submit an app for certification. Upon clicking the “Submit for certification” button, you will get this dreaded page which gave me a #facepalm
So, to sum it all up, the 2 day approval period has amazed me with it’s speed and efficiency, but there are still some bugs in the website and some processes that needs to be improved in order for Windows Mobile Marketplace to gather more traction. Even Apple’s MobileMe had a lot of issues upon launch.
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Want to know more about the various app stores?
05 October '09 by Gibson, under Uncategorized.
Then this website is a definitely must-read and the link is a definite must-click. So what are you waiting for?
http://sgentrepreneurs.com/dummys-guide/2009/10/05/a-guide-for-mobile-web-entrepreneurs-developers-smartphone-app-stores/