The Blog of an African NERD

qTweeter 3.0 is now available

Awesome new upgrade to qTweeter. Learn more at  http://www.qtweeter.com

 

iRemix for the iPhone and iPod touch is here

iRemix for the iPhone and iPod touch enhances your iPod experience with some features you have always wanted and some new ones you will fall in love with. It seamless integrates with the iPod and is built to let you access the songs, artists, albums and playlists you want faster than ever. More details at http://www.iremixforiphone.com

 

Ringtone Expressions 1.5 is here

 
We have updated Ringtone Expressions, an awesome ringtone makerwith some nice new features. See what's new here. Ringtone Expressions is a ringtone maker service that lets you create unlimited ringtones for your cellphone in the fastest and easiest manner. It is jam packed with a ton of great features. We also have an awesome Cyber Week deal going.Full details here.

Over 365 days to get iClueless approved for the iPhone App Store

It is interesting reading about iPhone App Store rejections. However, I don’t think anyone has gone through a rejection like mine. I purposely have not written about it for a few months because well, I needed some time to simmer down from the immense frustration and be able to write something meaningful. 

I submitted iClueless on July 7 2008, four days before the store launched. Then proceeded to go through a year of hell trying to get it published to the App Store.

The first rejection on 8/6/08  . See email

“Your application duplicates the functionality of the built-in iPhone application Safari without providing sufficient differentiation or added functionality, which will lead to user confusion.  Selecting websites in iClueless simply launch a webview within the app itself, just in a limited capacity in comparison to Safari.”

Essentially, the app was rejected because it had an instance of the Safari browser within it.

I sent a response stating how I felt iClueless did not violate section 3.3.5. However, I got no response on that. In fact, I even called Apple and left two voice messages for my rejector. Never got a phone call back.

Without a response, I figured I would change the default setting in iClueless. So rather than have the search results show inside iClueless, I would just have it show in the actual Safari browser. This updated build sat in review status for more than 6 months and when you are stuck in review status, you are stuck, no matter how many emails or calls you make.

Then on Feb 16, 2009, I got another rejection. See email

“Thank you for submitting iClueless to the App Store. We've reviewed iClueless and determined that we cannot post this version of your iPhone application to the App Store because of an Apple trademark image. If you believe that you can make the necessary changes so that iClueless does not infringe on Apple trademarks, we encourage you to do so and resubmit it for review.”

Essentially we got rejected again for this icon.

On March 11, 2009 another rejection. See email

Dear Gx5,

Thank you for submitting iClueless to the App Store. We've reviewed iClueless and determined that we cannot post this version of your iPhone application to the App Store because of an Apple trademark image

The app gave users the option to select a custom background, one of which was based on the Mac OS Leopard wallpaper. Basically the app was rejected for including this image. 

On 7/9/2009, another rejection. See email

Dear Tunji Afonja,

....Our review indicates that the application content is not consistent with the current rating. iClueless allows unfiltered access to the internet, where content with mature or suggestive themes can be accessed. Applications must be rated accordingly for the highest level of content that the user is able to access…….

So the app finally went up on August 28,2009.  Over 1 year later, and guess what, the window of opportunity for the app has completely evaporated. The only initial competition that iClueless would have had if it was approved a year ago was Where and WhereTo?. WhereTo? ended up grossing well over $200,000. So I essentially got nothing from this investment.  All I got was the psychological drain of being rejected by the App Store, something I wish on no one. If you are not a strong individual and you’ve put your all into an iPhone App, you could end up devastated and scared for life. Imagine the plight of an entrepreneur that quits his/her job, begins learning Objective C from scratch, invests in buying a pricey Mac and maybe puts all his life savings on the line into creating his killer iPhone app only to be rejected. Then a few weeks later he is reading stories of how other developers are on their way to making millions.  

Here is an example of how some developers are investing so much in the App store 

http://www.appcubby.com/blog/files/financial_realities.html 

There is no question that anyone who goes through this process will be broken, the question is how will one react. Developers like me are to busy and ambitious developing new products and can somewhat handle this, but soon enough there may be developers that will react with some serious aggression. 

If you think what am saying is far fetched, go ask Bill Gates and Steve Ballmer. When a dude was mad at Bill Gates,  he publicly pied him in the face. Fast forward a few years, when this dude was ticked off at Steve Ballmer,  he tried a more aggressive approach by flinging eggs at him in a missile like fashion. Now tell me what a raging iPhone developer will do when he finally comes across Steve Jobs after he has gone completely broke investing all his time, money and energy in building his iPhone app. It could be an ugly sight.

So in summary, like many other creative developers, am done with doing anything serious for the iPhone App store. 

Chad Ochocinco explains the Ray Lewis Hit

watch the video here

qStatus, kiss da baby, wow!!!

I knew I was big fan of Ocho Cinco back in 05 when I was stuck in line at Best Buy and was going to miss the start of the Bengals Steelers game.  I remember thinking 

“Damn, am going to miss Ocho Cinco’s celebration if he scores a touchdown”

Even before he changed his name, you could still get the Ocho Cinco jersey through NFL shop’s jersey customization, which I did. Speaking of customization, one of the most enjoyable aspects of our qStatus iPhone app as shown above is being able to customize the background. The idea is that since tweeting is something one does a lot, a custom background can make the experience more fun and with Ocho Cinco, things can be hilarious, thus I have been trying a few images of him as my background and am telling you the tweeting and facebook status update experience is so much more fun. You can see some of the other backgrounds I use here.

So do any other iPhone Twitter apps come close to offering this coolness? Child Pleeez. When it comes to the coolest tweeting experience on the iPhone you already know:

qStatus, Kiss Da Baby, Wow!!!

More info at http://www.qstatus.com 

Video: http://www.gx-5.com/products/qstatusforiphone/video.php

iTunes Store Link: http://bit.ly/zbVol

qStatus for the iPhone and iPod touch is here

Really excited to be launching qStatus for the iPhone and iPod touch. This app lets you update your Twitter and Facebook status at the same time. It is the best tweeting and status updating experience on the iPhone Bar None! It has many cool features too. Check it out at http://www.qstatus.com

Universal Search for iPhone is here

Marketing Guru needed

qTweeter now supports video tweets on all iPhone models

qTweeter 2.0 is out with support for twitvid, tweetshrink and long tweets. Learn more at http://www.qtweeter.com

What many may not know about Jay-Z's D.O.A.

Many current hip hop fans with their swag on, swag off and stanky leg dances can never really appreciate this song. The beautiful thing about this song is that it pays tribute to The Notorious BIG and takes you back to the “Versace shades: stretch Lexuses” era in hip hop. All throughout the song with Jay-Z saying “Unn” just keeps reminding you of those classic Biggie verses that began with him saying “Unn”. In addition to this, there are quite a few references to Biggie verses.

“Stop your blood clot crying” ( Taken from You’re Nobody Till Somebody Kills you ) “Am might bring back Versace shades” ( Biggie was known for rapping about and wearing Versace shades ) “Biggie vowed to Style on us” ( paraphrased from another Biggie song, don’t remember the exact one ) Damn, I miss Biggie. Love how Jay-Z his keeping his memory alive.

One month with the Palm Pre

Looks

Through out the hype period before it’s actual launch, the images of the Pre concerned me a bit. With all the curves, I thought it would be a bit too femalish for me, but when you actually get to play with the device, it has this cool alienish futuristic look to it. Touchstone also adds to this coolness.

Keyboard

The keyboard is fine if you are coming from older devices like the Treo but am not sure if you are coming from the newer BlackBerrys. That might take more time getting used to. I have been using the iPhone over the past year and since the Pre is also a touch screen, one tends to start out using it like the iPhone. However, with the full qwerty keyboard, you can get around much quicker and get things done faster. 

Set Up

Setting things up is really sweet and fast. Since this is essentially a cloud phone, you just enter you email info, im info etc and you are good to go. I was even pleasantly surprised being able to set up the my Gx5 email without having to sync with my Desktop. I think this may have to do with some of the magic they got from the Chattermail acquisition. 

Multitasking

Palm’s implementation of multitasking is just absolutely wonderful. The card paradigm is the sweetness thing I have ever seen on a Smartphone.

Fatter is better

The Pre feels better in your hand than the iPhone. For once, thin is not better.

Third Party Apps

Even though the App catalog has a limited no. of apps, using these apps validate WebOS as a platform to create powerful and useful apps. Even more exciting is what is going on in the hacking/jailbreak scene, where like the iPhone, you will soon see some mind blowing apps.

Societal Factor

Unlike previous awesome Palm devices that know one in mainstream knew about, the Palm Pre is an attention getter. I have been stopped quite a few times by curious folks wanting to know more about the Pre. Also, Palm's markting has been great. Seeing ads like this makes you feel good owning one.

Gripes

Would prefer they kept the menu/option button next to the sym key like we had on older Treos.

While people will love the interface, I have some issues with the design of some of the U.I. elements.  To a layman they all look good, but to a top notch graphic artist, some of these U.I. elements look cheesy. 

I think the top status bar/bottom alert area concept is great but the implementation is a bit flawed. I don’t see why they can’t be combined into one and placed permanently in the bottom. It saves real estate and makes things easier to touch.

The downside of this captive screen is that you can’t use your nails and that makes it a bit harder to put the cursor between words. That may sound crazy to you, but this is what us Treonauts have been used to.

Palm should stop being iPhonish in certain areas. For example, why go away from the sensible alphabetical listing of apps for the absolutely stupid iPhone way of laying out apps in just random silliness. By week 2, you don’t even know where your apps are any more.

The maps app needs a lot of work!

The slide out keyboard is cool, but it really slows things down. I like to get things done as fast as possible so having to always slide out wastes time. This is not a play phone like the iPhone where I need a wide screen to watch videos. This is a work phone. I need to get stuff done asap.  So I will really be looking forward to the Eos with it’s always available keyboard.

So which one: iPhone or Palm Pre? 

For me, both. Palm Pre is great for working and getting things done. I won’t recommend it as a multimedia device anytime soon. On the other hand, the iPhone is great for multimedia and if you jailbreak it you can do some amazingly cool stuff.

Right now, WebOS will be my work device, while the iPhone will be more of my multimedia device. If you are coming from a Treo, WebOS is absolutely awesome, but I would wait till Eos is released as it will be an easier transition because WebOS would have been more matured and have more apps. If you are using a dumb phone then stop being dumb and go get the Pre now.

Ringtone Expressions is here

We have had pretty good success creating ringtone makers for many popular Smartphones. So the next step logical step was to come up with a cool service that merges all these ringtone makers with awesome features. Ringtone Expressions is the result. It features a super enjoyable user experience, ringtone recommendations and lets you post your coolest ringtones to Facebook and Twitter. More info at http://www.ringtoneexpressions.com 

Steve Ballmer Demos the Zune HD: Looks exhausted and defeated

Remember the once bubbly and super energetic Steve Ballmer. This picture tells a completely different story. Even not knowing the context of this Photo, the man just looks old, tired, exhausted and defeated. Think about it

Microsoft Search - Fail

Windows Mobile - Fail

Internet Explorer - Fail

Vista - Fail

Media Center - Fail

Zune - Double Fail

You get the sense that the failure of pretty much everything coming from Redmond has started to take it's toll. Poor man.

With the Pre syncing with iTunes, the Palm Apple battle is now getting really interesting

The Palm Apple battle just gets better every day. Common belief a few months ago was that Palm was headed for a legal show down with Apple, particularly after Timothy Cook’s statements at Apple’s earnings call. Palm immediately shot back with “We got patents too”. So are these patents saving Palm from being sued by Apple and even giving them the courage to sync with iTunes apparently without Permission? Make no mistake, this is one gutsy move because for one, Palm knows third party developers like us can fill this niche for them and thus they don’t have to deal with the headache of Apple’s anger. Even worse is Apple intentionally breaking the functionality. I personally have been a victim of this. It is very possible Palm holds patents for the ringer switch, threaded sms and many more features you see on the iPhone. Thus any legal attack by Apple can be countered by an even bigger attack by Palm that can put the iPhone in jeopardy and cause Apple more headache. So, right now it seems as though Palm is holding Apple at Patent ransom. 

Apple definitely wants to protect iPhone features like multi touch. Word is that they essentially punked Google to not implement multi touch on the G1. However, Apple’s beef with Palm goes way deeper than intellectual property. If you have no knowledge of Steve Jobs and Jon Rubinstein's relationship, you can sum it up in the following movie theatrical release. 

In Silicon Valley, there was no Lieutenant Steve Jobs trusted more than Jonathan Rubinstein. He personally gave Ruby the green light to build the iPod.  A complex 15 year relationship forged by epic disagreements, shouting matches, risky technical gambles; all in the drive to build the best computers and gadgets in the world. They made history together and in 2006 the trusted lieutenant nobly retired. Or so we thought!

Now branded as a traitor, the iPod legend is helping lead the arch-enemy, using everything he learnt from Apple and in the process getting other key lieutenants to defect. It’s a story of trust, betrayals, backdating stock scandals, jealousy and revenge. This is the mother of all Smartphone wars!  This movies is not yet rated

Any smart book publisher should just go ahead and sign a deal for Jon Rubenstein’s memoir. His tell all book will probably be one for the ages.

This is great stuff

Oh damn, am becoming a Twitter addict!

Twitter is going to be down for an hr. A Whole Freaking HR!!!

It was not supposed to go down like this. I only tried Twitter to make qTweeter. Look what done happened to me!!!

new version of qTweeter with TwitPic support

Learn more at http://www.qtweeter.com

qTweeter is here. iPhone Twittering will never be the same.

I have been involved in a lot of cool apps for Smartphones, particularly in the glorious days of the Treo.  But this one tops it all.  qTweeter is simply the coolest thing I have been a part of to date with regards to Smartphone apps. Big shout out to everyone that contributed to this project and worked extra hard to get it out. Check it out at http://www.qtweeter.com 

Naija Boyz are at it again