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I would really like to help the reviewer who got short-changed on the Demo for the What's up app and expressed her/his disappointment by giving my app a poor rating:
Review Body:
The 5 day drmo expired in less than 30 mins.... wow great demo.
If you send an email to the support email address, I will let you know the cheat code for extending the demo period.
I have no idea what may have caused this problem, but f anyone else has experienced this (or any other problem for that matter) please tell me about it so I can improve your stargazing experience.
On a completely different subject, I am still waiting for an update to the AIR SDK so that I can use the magnetometer (compass). I am thinking that if a few hundred people who downloaded the app would leave a review in App World, it might help to get RIM's attention.09-10-11 02:05 PMLike 0 -
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Can you qualify for the new development kit - claim What's Up is a GAME!!! Practical knowledge is a waste as all of us Rim users know!09-10-11 02:19 PMLike 0 -
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The NDK really does not help me all that much. My choices would be:
1. Re-write the entire app using C+ (assuming of course that the NDK will provide hooks for the magnetometer - not a certainty at all! given RIM's track record on APIs!!)
2. Wait for the AIR SDK to have the ability to access native code libraries and use the NDK to write a small lib to access the magnetometer (assuming of course that the NDK will provide hooks for the magnetometer - not a certainty at all! given RIM's track record on APIs!!)
3. Wait for RIM to complete a proper API for the magnetometer in the AIR SDK (which requires option 2 as noted above but RIM engineers would be doing the work.)
Obviously, I am not interested in option 1 because my C+ skills are quite poor. In fact, I think that the AIR SDK is the perfect platform for my app - I do not need the lean and mean NDK because a properly designed AIR app can do intensive number crunching with extreme efficiency (and my app proves it).
So there you have it. How does the old nursery rhyme go? For want an API, an APP was lost.. for want of an APP, a sale was lost.. for want of a sale, I'm really PO'ed..09-10-11 03:19 PMLike 0 -
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I downloaded your demo. I really don't have much of a care for star gazing, however, tonight if my 5 or 8 year old says ohh, cool, or neat you have a sale. I like your honesty, your post and the app seems very good for what it is meant to do.BuzzStarField likes this.09-10-11 03:48 PMLike 1 -
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I don't agree that RIM users are anti-knowledge in any way. Games (even EA games) are not selling all that well on PB. I do think that RIM is missing out on marketing opportunities because it has not released APIs that demonstrate that PB's hardware is at least as good iPad's. Talk of superior hardware is cheap - what the PlayBook needs are "amazing" apps that demonstrate those capabilities.
My competition on the iThings is an app called Star Walk. It is consistently in the top 20 best-selling apps and sells for $4.99. This translates into big bucks for the developer. Gven the size of PB's user base, I can only dream of doing as well - but this is not the point.
I suspect that a large proportion of Star Walk sales are not so much because users are avid stargazers, but rather that they can show the iPad off to strangers and new users. The app has been featured in Apple TV commercials because it enables you to point your device at the sky and see what stars, constellations, and satellites you are looking at in real-time. I personally don't think that this is a particularly useful feature for amateur astronomers. In fact, the amazing features are the ones that I've already implemented - these are the features that attract the knowledge seekers.
I think what is "amazing" about Star Walk is that IPad users will spend $4.99 to help Apple market their devices. One has to admire Apple's marketing genius! It would take me about 3 hours to implement this "amazing" feature and help RIM in the same way.
I certainly hope that the much-anticipated re-launch will include some goodies for developers who want to write augmented reality apps. Time will tell...09-11-11 07:45 AMLike 0 -
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Just don't get burned out by Rim's dawdling. (something many of us are trying to not let happen).
Is there info on the EA sales numbers?
That may be part of the schizophrenic approach Rim has taken. Is it the PROFESSIONAL tablet they advertise or the GAME machine their beta openings seem to suggest? I'm sure lots of pb owners are bb phone owners who are corporate denizens who rarely play games. But small, light, 7 inch portable tablets with Flash also may appeal to the younger games-players.
The ipad commercials certainly display that schizoid personality - quick album viewer, video viewer, xray tech, - back and forth from leisure to serious. But Apple seems to have it down to a "science!"09-11-11 09:37 AMLike 0 -
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Demo ran out, jeez, some people want everything for free. Mine ran out long before I had an opportunity to use it, so when I had the opportunity (camping trip) I just bought the app! Heck, its cheaper than a timmies - and is far more cool!BuzzStarField likes this.09-11-11 11:30 AMLike 1 -
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I don't know what the stats look like but Dead Space and Need for Speed are first in their respective categories in App World. But DS is nowhere to be found in the top 25 purchased apps on the Featured screen. Need for Speed is number 21 in the top free apps. When my app was "Featured" in the carousel and selling 30-40 copies per day it was hovering in the top row of the top 25. My free demo averages a respectable 50 downloads per day and has never been in the top 25. Sales of my paid version right now are embarrassingly low.
Based on these observations, I would conclude that free downloads are very low for EA (cosidering their reputation) and that actual sales are not all that great.
By contrast, there are currently 3 apps authored by the famous Skylab Mobilsystems Ltd. "Compass pro", a simple app which uses the GPS chip to fake a compass heading is in spot number 2. There seems to be an inverse relationship between the effort that you expend on an app and the return on investment.
It's a little bet discouraging but I never expected to make any money with my PlayBook offering. I can certainly understand why some of the big developers are missing in action. RIM really has to do something about this! Maybe copying Apple's approach wouldn't be such a bad thing.09-11-11 11:55 AMLike 0 -
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That 'free' EA app is Need For Speed, it only has a place on the top 25 list on App World because of people reinstalling it after they delete it.09-11-11 12:17 PMLike 0 -
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Ok, spent the coin on the app, I have to say my daughters and i spent some fun time outside star gazing. It was fun to locate the stars, tell the names and some quick info. They really enjoyed it. One thing my eldest asked was would it be possible to track and locate Satellites. Perhaps being able to flip between star chats and satellites, that would be neat.09-11-11 12:21 PMLike 0 -
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I'm glad that you enjoyed the app. Yes it is possible to track satellites in the way that you suggest but I would have to overcome some technical difficulties before the data could be shown to you in real time. For example, the interesting (i.e. highly visible) like the ISS are in comparatively low orbit and move across the sky very quickly. Also they will not be visible except just before sunrise or after sunset. (It must be dark on the ground but the satellite must be basking in sunshine).Ok, spent the coin on the app, I have to say my daughters and i spent some fun time outside star gazing. It was fun to locate the stars, tell the names and some quick info. They really enjoyed it. One thing my eldest asked was would it be possible to track and locate Satellites. Perhaps being able to flip between star chats and satellites, that would be neat.09-11-11 12:39 PMLike 0 -
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Well, I for one have not yet purchased Dead Space. I'm not much into long games (nor mayhem). A quick game of solitaire, yes. But the reviews and comments make me think I should shell out $10 just for kicks. Still holding out though.09-11-11 01:29 PMLike 0 -
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What's up with the 1/2 star review?
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