August 25th, 2009 Posted by: Sam Granleese Comments (0)
Earlier this year at Mobile Monday Melbourne Robert Murray, founder of Melbourne-based iPhone gaming developer Firemint, spoke about the risks of building a handset game from scratch, versus doing mobile development work for overseas based console gaming companies. Firemint mainly create mobile game versions of broader game releases for companies like Electronic Arts and Disney. However, it is their original IP game Flight Control for which they are most widely known.
Flight Control was created last year at an estimated budget of $50,000. Game play centers on challenging users to manipulate and drag aircraft with their iPhone touchscreen to designated airport landing areas. The main challenge is to avoid mid-air collisions of different aircraft which become progressively congested. In Australia Flight Control costs $1.19 to download from the iTunes AppStore (USD $0.99) and has now sold 1.3 million downloads.
Back in February Read more
February 25th, 2009 Posted by: Sam Granleese Comments (0)
Time for some economics (don’t all cheer at once, yes I’m talking to you lot at the back wearing tweed sport coats).
Using price elasticity of demand (PED) we can calculate the likelihood of change in demand for iPhone application downloads as a result of a change in price for that download. Why should we do this? It is a common problem for creators of applications as to know what price to charge for them (if at all) – the internet audience loves freebies, but how do you get a return on your investment in development if you give things away for free? Surely you should be able to charge something?
I would assume that demand for iPhone applications, like many web-based applications, is highly elastic to price – that is, the change in cost of the application has a great influence over the number of downloads it receives. This seems obvious – but is it, and how elastic is this demand? How much could you change the price Read more
January 14th, 2009 Posted by: Sam Granleese Comments (0)
Something a bit different from Radical Cross Stich:
I’ve been working QR Codes in cross stitch as a way of exploring non-corporate alternatives to this potentially very interesting and useful communication medium.
The piece designed for The Streets of Melbourne is designed to make a very clear statement on the irony of a privately owned and operated city square. A space that, within Western culture, has traditionally been the primary space for free speech. And of course this space in particular is part of the traditional gathering grounds for the people of the Kulin Nations.
View more pictures here.
December 15th, 2008 Posted by: hugh Comments (0)
The Open Handset Alliance, the body of handset manufacturers, network operators, and other interested parties that backs Google’s Android operating system, has welcomed 14 more members, as of last week.
Most significant amongst them are handset maker Sony Ericsson, computer manufacturer Asus, GPS maker Garmin, and network player Vodafone. Of more interest perhaps, in terms of the breadth of phone hardware to follow, are the many OEMs in the group, showing that ‘no-name’ phones like the Agora, the second phone announced by little known local company Kogan, will not be a one-off.
Expect 2009 to see Android picking up pace. The operating system will continue to mature, as more contributions are made to its development. More handset choices will come too, as more makers get to grips with writing hardware drivers for the operating system.
After a slow start, with a single handset released so far, the Alliance is starting to warm up.
Press release here.
December 9th, 2008 Posted by: Andrew Reeves Comments (0)
Snuck this one off of mashable today. And particularly relevant given the recent numbers talked of at AIMA (Mobile Landscape) last week suggested that iphone addicts are spending 6 times more time on the mobile web than non iphone users. Much of this is time is spent searching and browsing. It’s then no surprise that Google the clever folk that they are has launched Adwords for Iphone and G1 devices.
Good news for anyone seeking to launch an application or iphone optimised web property, and another option to distribute beyond the App Store.
December 4th, 2008 Posted by: phil Comments (0)
Initially due to launch pre-Christmas, the Kogan Agora is to the first locally released version of a phone running Google Android OS and will be available from Jan 29. Kogan is a small Australian consumer electronics business that sources contract manufactured products from China to sell direct to the public via its website only. Prices are higher than initially flagged, due to the plummeting exchange rate, but still pretty sharp: $299 or $399 for the Pro version with GPS, WiFi and a camera (so much extra value for just $100…).
The phone comes with the now-obligatory touch sensitive screen and will offer tightly integrated Google services:
- one-touch Google search
- YouTube player with direct uploads
- Gmail, Google Talk, Google Maps, Google Calendar etc
Initial production volumes are low – don’t expect the Kogan Agora to single-handedly revolutionise mobile internet surfing (the iPhone has been-there & done that), but it will be great to see the Android platform finally in play in Australia.
