[ledgero2]

Hi chaps,

Ive just gone to buy Battery Guru.... �1.50 it says. Press purchase and the next screen shows �2.00. WTF! Is this broken, or is it paypal robbing an extra 50p off me?

Apologies if posted before....


cheers!

[peter9477]

ledgero2, they're just updating BlackBerry World pricing tiers, and I assume you're getting caught by the typical RIM server "race condition" where some things update faster than others.

See this post BlackBerry World Pricing Tier Update �BlackBerry Developer Blog

My guess is if you just wait a day and try again, you'll see the new lower price in both places.

[louzer]

It's worth it! Battery Guru was the first Playbook app I purchased and it's been worth every penny. It's always running on my PlayBook and it's the first app I fire up after a reboot.

[peter9477]

Hey OP, since I answered your question (I think), mind if I hijack the thread for a price-related question? It's relevant to you... you probably won't even like it though.

The question I have is, what price would my current Battery Guru users think is fair for the BB10 upgrade, when it's available?

It's a total rewrite, using Cascades, so not a smidgeon of the PlayBook's AIR codebase was used.

From the looks of things, it will be at least on par with the PlayBook version in all areas, and much nicer in some even in the first version. In fact, you can get a feel for how it will look a bit with some screenshots I've been putting here: BatteryGuru for BB10 evolution - Imgur It's not obvious in those but the graph is scrollable now, and has ticks/labels that have been added since the latest one there.

It looks like I need actual release hardware to finish testing, since I'm convinced there are serious flaws in the battery stuff in the Dev Alpha which must be fixed in the real thing, but which I need to test with once BB10 is released. For example, Cycle Count and Health are basically missing in the Dev Alpha. Unfortunately that means it won't be ready at launch, or for a week or two after.

I'll have custom battery level alarms in either the first version or very soon thereafter (a week or two at most). The development environment I'm using now is far superior for my purposes than AIR, so I'll be able to make relatively frequent updates... you may have noticed the PB version was fairly, um, static... ;-)

So my question: upgrade price? I intend to keep the app at $1.99, but would you be averse to paying $0.99 for the BB10 version? Full price again? Or would you feel it would be fair only if you get a free upgrade? As with Shao128, I'm all in on BB10 development, so unless early sales of and on BB10 are absolutely phenomenal, I could really use the little bump from a paid upgrade.

Any and all opinions are welcome. OP: I'd hope to find a way to make it free for recent purchasers... doubtful RIM will have support for that at launch (coupons etc) but I can hope. They have talked about this being imminent, so my fingers are crossed we'll learn concrete news on that at BlackBerry Jam Europe next week.

[Bungalow_Bill]

I would have no trouble paying 99 cents for an upgrade. For me this is an essential app and you should be paid for all the effort you've put into the new version. I would think that adding a few little things (as you seem to have done) will make it more palatable for some. I'd pay 99 cents just for your continued input into this forum. You always increase the signal-to-noise ratio with your lucid comments, advice and technical support. (Did I just hijack your hijacking?)

[alexwise]

99p is the perfect price for this kind of app, imho.

[adadadad]

Hey OP, since I answered your question (I think), mind if I hijack the thread for a price-related question? It's relevant to you... you probably won't even like it though.

The question I have is, what price would my current Battery Guru users think is fair for the BB10 upgrade, when it's available?

It's a total rewrite, using Cascades, so not a smidgeon of the PlayBook's AIR codebase was used.

From the looks of things, it will be at least on par with the PlayBook version in all areas, and much nicer in some even in the first version. In fact, you can get a feel for how it will look a bit with some screenshots I've been putting here: BatteryGuru for BB10 evolution - Imgur It's not obvious in those but the graph is scrollable now, and has ticks/labels that have been added since the latest one there.

It looks like I need actual release hardware to finish testing, since I'm convinced there are serious flaws in the battery stuff in the Dev Alpha which must be fixed in the real thing, but which I need to test with once BB10 is released. For example, Cycle Count and Health are basically missing in the Dev Alpha. Unfortunately that means it won't be ready at launch, or for a week or two after.

I'll have custom battery level alarms in either the first version or very soon thereafter (a week or two at most). The development environment I'm using now is far superior for my purposes than AIR, so I'll be able to make relatively frequent updates... you may have noticed the PB version was fairly, um, static... ;-)

So my question: upgrade price? I intend to keep the app at $1.99, but would you be averse to paying $0.99 for the BB10 version? Full price again? Or would you feel it would be fair only if you get a free upgrade? As with Shao128, I'm all in on BB10 development, so unless early sales of and on BB10 are absolutely phenomenal, I could really use the little bump from a paid upgrade.

Any and all opinions are welcome. OP: I'd hope to find a way to make it free for recent purchasers... doubtful RIM will have support for that at launch (coupons etc) but I can hope. They have talked about this being imminent, so my fingers are crossed we'll learn concrete news on that at BlackBerry Jam Europe next week.

No! I think the price should remain at $1.99. As you said, its a complete rewrite, it means you've made this app entirely from ground up (from scratch). Its a great app. $1.99 isn't a huge amount given the potential and importance of the app. 0.99 is damn too low. Just my opinion.

[ledgero2]

Thanks for the update. It wasnt a specific thread about Battery Guru as such, but thats the only app id seen 2 different prices for the same app! You are right, it now shows as �1.50 again.

[peter9477]

Thanks for confirming, ledgero2.

adadad and others: I wasn't considering actually dropping the price to $0.99, but rather was asking about the upgrade price. That is, when you've already bought the app for a particular BBID account on your PlayBook, what extra cost might be acceptable to download the BB10 version for your new phone. Vendors can allow that "upgrade" (cross-grade?) for no additional cost, or can charge some amount for it. I was wondering how those who'd already paid $1.99 for the PlayBook version would find it if they had to pay $0.99 or even $1.99 again to get it on the BB10 device.

Extra info now that I have an actual Z10 to test on: the Cycles count looks messed up: reads as 243 here, and earlier it was 193. If the OS won't supply a reliable value there, the app can't usefully show it. The Health initially read as 100% but now shows as 91%. With luck, that value means something and I can keep it in there.

[dmlis]

Peter, why not to bring your pricing question to a poll.
(As for me, upgrade price $0.99 is OK).

[peter9477]

dmlis, I never thought of that, but it sounds like a great idea. I'll wait till a few more details are filled in on what features may or may not work with BB10 before I do, but I like the idea. Thank you.

[joshua_sx1]

I was wondering how those who'd already paid $1.99 for the PlayBook version would find it if they had to pay $0.99 or even $1.99 again to get it on the BB10 device?

Surely, nobody is going to make purchases now until BB10 officially released in PB if we are going to pay them again... and no third party developers also will develop or even upgrade their games and apps if they know that they have to re-write and re-program them again when ported to BB10...

I thought all games and apps in AppWorld are compatible with BB10...

[twstd.reality]

Id happily pay .99 for the upgrade. Id also pay full price again - definitely worth it. Right now Im using BattBerry and it only shows the %.

When do you expect to release peter?

[bribert]

I love the Battery Guru on my Playbook and I am waiting anxiously for to be ready for BB10. The features that you mentioned that are not quite working (cycle count, health) are not show stoppers at all for me as I don't look at those figures much, anyways. I love the charge/discharge values and the graph. I would pay the $0.99 upgrade or even the $1.99 since it is a rewrite and you need it to be worth while. Need a beta tester? if so contact me offline. Keep up the great work!

Edit: Peter, I see you wrote White Noise also. I have that one as well on my PB.

[anon(2560202)]

I would be fine paying for the app for the phone. I have for the PlayBook & would be okay with either the upgrade price or full as long as was as handy as the PlayBook version.

[blueberrymerry]

The BB10 Cascades version looks beautiful I can't wait for it to run on the Playbook when (or if) it gets BB10. Did you use Cascades/QML for the UI and C++ for the back-end code? I'm interested in developing for BB10 and I've had some experience with Qt and QML on Symbian and Meego.