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16Apr

Amazon Android Developers Can Now Charge More Than $20 For In-App Purchases

Amazon is now letting developers charge higher prices for in-app purchases thanks to new parental controls it just strengthened.

The company sent out an e-mail to developers today that said:

“With our parental controls functionality now updated, in-app items over $20 may now be submitted via the developer portal.”

Developers depend on these pricier items to make their businesses work since only a small percentage (usually in the single digits) of their users pay in their games. These so-called “whales” are responsible for the bulk of a developer’s revenues. In a study earlier this year, mobile analytics company Flurry found that transactions that were more than $20 make up the majority of revenue for top-grossing games on iOS and Android.

But this business model has caused tension on Apple’s iOS platform. Last year, there were widespread reports that children could run up hundreds of dollars in purchases on their iPods, iPhones or iPads to their parents’ chagrin. Apple has a 15-minute window for purchases after an iOS device owner types in their password. After the 15 minutes passes, they have to re-enter their password if they want to buy more.

Amazon famously has a one-click payments flow, which in a normal case could make a Kindle especially risky to hand to a child or toddler. But the device has parental controls. If they’re set up properly, all purchases require an Amazon.com password or a 4-digit PIN. Kindle owners can set this up from the ‘Settings’ menu on their device.

Higher price points for in-app purchases should also help Amazon boost its reputation as an app store that’s more lucrative per user than Google Play. Another Flurry study showed that the average revenue per user on Amazon’s store is about 89 percent of what it is on iOS. Meanwhile, Google Play has an average revenue per user that’s about one-quarter of what it is on iOS.

View full post on TechCrunch » Mobile

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11Apr

Kindle’s E-Ink still better than Retina display for reading

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Let me preface this article by saying that the new iPad’s Retina display is amazing. It’s sharp, bright, colorful and I’m 100% happy with it. That being said, when it comes down to reading – not emails or web articles, but novels – I’d still pick the E-Ink display on my Kindle every time. And it appears I’m not alone. Ars Technica published an…

View full post on TodaysiPhone.com

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06Apr

Better Late Than Never: RIM Preps Refreshed PlayBook With 4G

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The BlackBerry PlayBook is about to get the gift of 4G. That is of course if a random leaked image and FCC documents are believed. And why not? Even though the PlayBook is almost a year old, RIM is actually selling more now than ever.

The PlayBook is a fine tablet. The OS is competent and slick. It packs all the standard BlackBerry apps and functions. Much as the iPad is a great iPhone companion, the PlayBook should be the BlackBerry user’s tablet of choice. The PlayBook is a fine tablet now. But it didn’t launch that way.

The PlayBook launched last April to rough reviews. Common issues cited were the buggy OS, lack of 3rd party apps, and, strangely, RIM failed to include a calendar, email, and BBM functions. The tablet went nowhere and launched with a thud. It wasn’t until a drastic price cut and the addition of these missing features some seven months post launch that the PlayBook started moving. RIM saw a five fold increase in PlayBook sales last quarter.

A 4G PlayBook makes sense in a strange way. RIM built the PlayBook to work tightly with its enterprise platform. In theory the PlayBook should work superior to the iPad in a corporate environment. Since RIM is actually now managing to sell PlayBooks, a 4G version should make traveling shower hook salesmen rather happy, since it can remotely dial the home intranet without relying on WiFi. Sure, these people might want an iPad, but IT departments can buy two PlayBooks for the price of one iPad and these tablets can be managed alongside the company’s existing BlackBerrys.

Unfortunately a 4G PlayBook would flop in the consumer market like its WiFi brother. Even if it’s priced aggressively, the PlayBook lacks the sex appeal, and more importantly, the sheer amount of functions found on the iPad. Consumers looking for a cheap tablet will still look at the Kindle Fire or perhaps the rumored Google Nexus Tablet.

RIM will likely launch the PlayBook the first week of May at its yearly BlackBerry World conference. The company needs to have a strong showing and a 4G PlayBook shows RIM is at least moving albeit rather slowly. If RIM is to recover, they need to get products on the market in a timely and complete fashion; that’s very clear. However, the company also needs to protect its revenue streams, and refreshing an old tablet with a relatively inexpensive addition like a 4G radio is a smart way to exploit the new demand and those still afflicted with the crackberry addiction.

View full post on TechCrunch » Mobile

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05Apr

ITClamp Stops Bleeding, Looks More Painful Than The Wound It Seeks To Plug

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By David Ponce

As was pointed out to us last time we discussed exsanguination, applying a tourniquet is not always the smartest thing to do. It should only be done when someone’s life is seriously at risk. And you should always be mindful that there’s a chance they could lose a limb is it’s kept on for too long. Of course, if you’re bleeding profusely from somewhere and don’t do something about it, you might die. Applying pressure to the wound is one solution, but the ITClamp goes about it slightly differently:

Inspired by a simple hair clip, Filips designed a device called the ITClamp. The ITClamp is essentially a sterile, plastic clamp approximately five centimeters in length, with curved needles along the “jaws” of the device. In a trauma situation, the responder clamps the device along the wound. The curved needles and the shape of the ITClamp draw the wound up into the device and anchor it with even pressure, allowing the blood underneath to create a clot around the wound and help stop the bleeding until the victim receives further medical attention.

Yeah so… the teeth basically bite into your flesh and then the clamp sucks it up and clamps it shut. Ouch! But hey, beats dying.

The company expects the product to sell for around $65 sometime in late 2012, pending regulatory approval.

[ Product Page ] VIA [ MedGadget ]

View full post on OhGizmo!

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30Mar

Amazon’s Appstore Generates More Revenue Per Daily User Than Google Play

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According to new data released today by mobile analytics firm Flurry, Amazon’s Appstore for Android is generating more revenue per daily user than the Google Android Market, which was recently rebranded as the Google Play store. That shouldn’t be surprising, given that Amazon vets apps for quality, runs promotions to entice users to return daily, and perhaps most importantly, is able to leverage its established user base of Amazon account holders who already have credit card information on file – perfect for one-click checkouts.

To generate its figures, Flurry examined a set of top-ranked apps that have a presence on all three stores: Apple, Amazon and Google Play. Combined, the apps average 11 million daily active users.

Flurry set the revenue generated in the iTunes App Store to 100%, then compared the relative revenue generated by Amazon and Google to that of the App Store. In doing so, the firm found that Amazon revenue is 89% of App Store revenue and Google revenue is 23% of App Store revenue. Or, in other words, for every dollar an iOS app makes, it generates 89 cents in the Amazon Appstore and 23 cents in Google Play.

The findings back up Flurry’s December report, which found the Android Market to generate 23 cents of revenue for every dollar generated by iTunes.

Flurry cites Amazon’s online retail prowess as reason for its success. “Amazon, who invented the one-click purchase, perfected online shopping with data, efficiency, and customer service,” says Flurry’s VP of Marketing Peter Farago. Meanwhile, running a store – whether digital or retail – is not one of Google’s core competencies, he notes.

The data speaks to Amazon’s potential (or really, its place) as a viable third ecosystem for developers looking to generate revenue, which leaves one wondering where the Microsoft/Nokia ecosystem will fit in. Can the mobile app ecosystem support it as a strong fourth player one day, too?

Farago tells us that Flurry believes it can. “We believe that Microsoft + Nokia have a lot of the key assets to succeed, from a powerful OS, hardware know-how and, most importantly, building robust third party developer support. We are bullish on their progress,” he says.

He also suggests that Amazon’s success may leave other players considering similar tactics – that is, forking Android to build their own Android-flavored OS and associated app store.

Samsung, specifically, is called out as one company that might see this path as appealing. Farago explains that most OEMs want to differentiate their software, if for no other reason than to please carriers which want unique phones.

“Software is the easiest way to achieve this,” he says. “If all hardware makers have the same software, then differentiation drops.”

With Amazon’s growth as a revenue generator for developers as well as a new hardware competitor, Flurry thinks Samsung may be considering its own Android fork.

“If you put together the idea that OEMs want differentiation and Amazon is now competing strongly against Samsung in the tablet category, as well as its ability to make revenue for developers, then a fork for Samsung becomes a real strategic choice to consider,” Farago explains. “Let’s also not forget that apps will soon be on TVs, where Samsung already has a strong footprint in hardware. Finally, Samsung has Bada. If they haven’t switched to that already, then it’s because Android is working for them well enough, until possibly now. If that’s the case, a fork of Android again looks like an alternative to evaluate.”