Froogloid

Latest a2b Updates

Hey everyone, I’ve been meaning to post about this for some time now but Chris P, Simmone, and I have been heads down lately with Key Ring and some other stuff.  The good news is Key Ring is moving right along :)  For those of you that downloaded a2b via the android market, you likely saw an email I sent last week explaining some of the new features. This post will expound upon on that email and will include screenshots. Enjoy :) 

On a related note, thanks to everyone who provided positive feedback on the android market regarding the latest update.  Your feedback is VERY APPRECIATED!  THANK YOU!

Manually enter location. Select “save location” => “map” tab => menu => “manually enter location”.   

GPS Settings.  You can now configure GPS to automatically turn off when you exit the application.   Go to the home screen => menu => “settings”

New Home Screen Background Graphic.  We wanted more contrast between the save and find buttons and the background. Hopefully this new background will do the trick :)
 

Turn by Turn / Driving Directions. You’ll now have the option to navigate to your saved location using turn by directions. Unfortunately it’s against google’s terms of service to integrate turn by turn directly within a 3rd party application otherwise we would have a built a custom view. Nonetheless, google maps seamlessly integrate with a2b. Select “find location” => select the location you’d like to navigate to via the list => find “map” tab => menu => “Driving Directions”

Email Saved Location. Once you’ve saved a location you can share it with anyone you’d like via email. If you’ve taken a picture and/or created a free text note this will also be sent when emailing the location. Select “find location” => select the location you’d like to share via the list => find “map” tab = menu => “email saved location”

Update Menu.  When you download an updated version of a2b you’ll now be able to reference what updates were made.  Go to the home screen => menu => “updates”

Several UI Enhancements.  Progress circles between screen transitions, pop up toast for playing audio, background color for find map tab distance, manage application description, and various other tweaks.

Android Development Challenge II

Until now it’s been radio silence from out friends at google regarding the 2nd android development challenge.  I ran across an interesting blog today at phandroid.com where they were able to dig up some news regarding the next android developer challenge.  Google was origianlly slated to communicate time-lines, rules etc for this contest by the end of December 08.   The good news is that the 2nd development challenge has not been canceled, only delayed.  Here’s what google said:

If you’re not familiar with the android development challenge here’s a summary of the first challenge:

• +1788 developers submitted applications
• +open handset alliance partners picked 50 finalists and each received 25,000 to either pocket or reinvest in their app
• +top 50 finalists were given an opportunity to make a another round of edits  and then submitted apps as final
• +open handset alliance partners selected 20 winners!  10 received $100,000 and 10 received $275,000
• +total prize money awarded was $5,000,000 

If you look at the number of submissions v. the number of winners you’d have roughly a 3% chance of walking away with any money.  The odds weren’t exactly in your favor!  Keep in mind 1788 people submitted applications for an operating system that wasn’t even available for sale on a device!  And, 100% of development and testing had to be done via your PC!  Now that we have more than a million android devices out there and MANY more on there way who knows how many people will submit applications for the 2nd development challenge!  Nonetheless, Froogloid isn’t discouraged and we’re always up for a challenge!

Howdy U.K. ~ You can now purchase a2b!

I’m happy to announce that our friends over in the U.K. can now purchase a2b!  woot woot!  Hopefully this means other countries in Europe will have access to paid apps very soon as well. 

For those in U.K. we’d love to hear your feedback!  Likes/Dislikes etc :)  Obviously the queen digs a2b :)

How to create a 2D Barcode

It’s come to my attention that very few android/G1 phone owners know about one of my favorite features, reading and creating 2D barcodes!  First, if you haven’t already done so, download the free application “barcode scanner” from the android market.   Now that you have the app, select “menu” => “share” and you can create a 2D barcode of any of your contacts as well as bookmarks.  If one of your buddies has a 2D barcode reader on his or her phone they can simply scan the code you just created!  Once they’ve scanned the 2D barcode they will be prompted to launch their browser and/or save the contact info.  If you want to create a 2D barcode and share it via your website like we’ve done here and here there are several free and easy sites you can use.  Here are couple of my favorites: zxing  and nokia barcode generator  FYI, there are several types of 2D barcodes but the G1/barcode scanner only supports “QR”.

Android Market Statistics

For those wondering how well paid applications are doing, here’s a few stats that I manually pulled from the android market this evening.  By manual I mean counted on my fingers and toes :)  Nonetheless, this should at least give you “some” perspective….

• >Paid apps have been available for 17 days (2/20-3/9) 
• >There are 415 paid apps
• >a2b is # 38 in popularity out of 415
• >Top 40 stats:
  • -  6 apps have between 1,000 – 5,000 downloads
  • -  10 apps have between 500 – 1,000 downloads
  • -  24 apps have between 100 – 500 downloads
  • -  Prices vary between $.99 - $9.99 

iPhone v. Android/Google Phone

If I had a dollar for every time I was asked if a2b could be purchased on the iPhone I’d be able to retire :)  So why doesn’t Froogloid build software for the Iphone?  There are several reasons; not enough hours in the day, not enough capital to pay 3rd parties to port a2b, saturated Iphone app market, but the main and most compelling reason is we feel there is a tremendous amount of opportunity with the android/google platform.  I recently touched upon this in my “Calm Before the Storm Blog” but here’s a few more points/things to consider.

In the mobile app world you have 4 main players; 1) the network carriers (T-Mobile, Verizon etc…)  2) the mobile phone manufacturers (motorola, LG, HTC etc…) 3) consumers who buy the phones/apps 4) and last but not least, mobile application developers (Froogloid).  What if you had an operating system that was good for all players?  Well, that’s exactly what android OS does!  It makes everyone happy. 

Let me tell you why….  First, the device manufacturers, they love android because the OS is 100% free!  That’s right, no more paying symbian and other OS’s millions to license their operating systems.  This equates to lower handset prices which ultimately means more handset sales.  Network carriers are excited about android for 3 reasons; 1)  innovative products equate to more subscribers 2)  Android phones use data which equates to more value added services = more $$$.  3)  Network carriers get 30% of all fee based application downloads!  If I sell an app for $1, T-Mobile gets 30 cent and I get 70 cents…. google gets nothing (sort of).  Guess how much of the fee based revenue apple shares with network carriers?  0%!  Mobile application developers love android because it’s extremely easy to get your products to market unlike apple’s 6 month application process!  Not to mention, once more android devices are released, your app will/can be distributed to almost any carrier in the world!  More eyeballs on your apps = more revenue, it’s as simple as that.  Consumers love android because they’ll have plethora of android devices to chose from unlike the Iphone.  Also, android phones are/will be economically priced.  Remember, no more OS licensing costs = lower handset prices!  Don’t forget, consumers love applications!  With android they’ll have an unlimited supply to innovative apps!  So, what does google get out of this?  Two words:  “Mobile Search”!              

If you don’t believe me, fine, but I’m not the only one that sees the opportunity.  Android will overtake Iphone by 2012.  http://androidcommunity.com/android-os-to-trump-os-x-touch-20090306

What are your thoughts? Technorati Profile

Get an android phone for less than 100 bucks!

If you’re dying to get your hands on a Google phone but you don’t want to spend $175!  You’re in luck!  www.letstalk.com is offering a great deal right now.  You can purchase a T-Mobile G1 for $97.77 AND it comes with a free car charger and a 4gb micro SD card.  The only catch is that you have to sign up for a 2 yr contract. To put this in perspective, I bought my G1 in Oct 08 for $175 with a 2 yr contract.  Then I upgraded to 4gb card for another 30 bucks.  So, 4 months later you can pay $100 less than I did and get a free car charger .  Pretty good deal.

Froogloid Status. What’s Next?

Hi everyone, quick Froogloid status update.  a2b has now been available via the android market for a whopping 12 days.  Although, it’s seems like much longer!  During this time we’ve added a few really cool features such as turn by directions, and emailing location information(google maps link with picture and note).  If you haven’t tried em out, you should!  Personally I’ve found them very useful.

So, what’s next?  Well, We’re working on adding a couple of other requested enhancements.  Hopefully we’ll have an updated version of a2b released in the next week or so.  Once that’s done, we’ll focus on localizing a2b for Europe and possibly Asia.  In parallel with our a2b efforts, a good friend has been heads down working on Key Ring.  Unfortunately there haven’t been enough hours in the day to make significant progress on Key Ring to date but this will soon change.  We’ve set a goal of April 6th for releasing Key Ring in the android market.  With enough red bull and coffee this should be an attainable goal :)  I’m really excited about Key Ring.  I hope it’s as well received as a2b was/is!

That’s it for now!