iCombat was cracked and posted to Twitter before even propagating through all of Apple’s servers (I’d say within 30 minutes from going live). Their adoption on the front end was much quicker than the paying user. Nothing beats free…

Coming to the following conclusions:

• Piracy is still not that big of a problem when talking about the apps with larger download volumes
• Blocking pirates is not worth it unless you can push conversion by giving them a lite style version

Read the whole story at My Experience Getting Owned by App Store Pirates | iCombat.

Apple also disclosed that any application currently in App Store that did not run properly under 3.0 would be removed from the store.

Many developers have expressed concern over this move. Although Apple stated in the e-mail that “[e]xisting apps in the App Store should already run on iPhone OS 3.0 without modification,” some developers have told Ars that they’ve found otherwise. Apple has always stood behind its public APIs, guaranteeing that bug-free programs that ran under earlier firmware would continue to run in later releases. Developers worry, though, that solid 2.x applications may not run properly under 3.0, causing them to lose their place in App Store.

…

This introduces a brand new puzzle into the iPhone development equation. Business plans that were predicated on getting applications ready for the 3.0 launch, whenever that should happen, must now start building 3.0 compatibility into their 2.x products. If a company wants to release a bug fix or offer any updated features over the next few months, they’ll need to task their engineers with a whole new development effort. There’s no way to keep programming for 2.x until 3.0 debuts.

This actually changes the situation a lot.

Read the whole story at TechCrunch: ‘Flight Control’ Sales Stats Offer Fascinating Look At Inner Workings Of The iPhone App Store.

And of course, the right idea to let people spread the word about it.

As an open platform, Google isn’t requiring backward compatibility for all Android apps. But as more devices and applications come out, that could be an issue. As Google writes, “do you want to allow your application to run on all devices, or just those running newer software?” Plenty of iPhone apps answer that very question with the latter. And while you might think that may be limiting, it ensures a certain level of simplicity in the App Store — and perhaps more importantly, in developing for the iPhone.

The iPhone platform already has a massive lead in terms of applications built for it over Android. Anything, such a backwards compatibility code, that adds complexity to developing for Android is certainly not going to help.

While I can not see the benefit for the user in having non backward compatible applications, I fully agree that setting backward compatibility as standard expectation for Android applications will make it even harder for Android developers.

This adds up to the complexity of not being able to know the hardware specifications your application will run on, which I wrote about in my post “Is Android’s Flexibility a Disadvantage?”.

Android 1.5 includes support for soft keyboards, and there will soon be many devices that run Android but do not have physical keyboards. If your application assumes the presence of a physical keyboard such as if you have created a custom View that sinks keypress events you should make sure it degrades gracefully on devices that only have soft keyboards. For more information on this, keep on eye on this blog as we’ll be posting more detailed information about handling the new soft keyboards.

Since Android is not coupled to the hardware as the iPhone OS currently is, developers should not do assumptions on the available hardware, their application is running on. The situation might get worse, if Android will also be used on Netbooks. 

Can you really make applications working great both on a smart phone and on a higher resolution screen? Will Netbooks with Android also have GPS and a accelerometer?  In some cases it might work well and in other doesn’t. Nevertheless, it will always result in additional efforts for handling situations where hardware is not available that you actually expect for your application. Not to forget the additional effort needed for testing and support.

Of course, this is only the case if you want your application to run on all this devices. I think, Google has to find a solution for the Android Market, to let developers set certain requirements for their applications to prevent downloading them to a unsupported device. For the G1 they have already adapted the Android Market so that tethering apps are only available outside of the US. Situations like this are likely to appear again in the future, considering the different terms of services of mobile carriers worldwide. This is, BTW, another topic Android developers should be aware of.

People can downplay the actual number of iPhones in circulation all they want — the fact of the matter is that it has changed things. While there were some third-party mobile app developers before Apple’s App Store, they received almost no attention, and as such, it wasn’t really a viable business. Now, everyone and their mother is flocking to develop for the App Store. And every major mobile player is rushing to make their own app stores. But Apple’s already has over 35,000 apps — and in a few short hours, there will have been one billion apps downloaded in just 9 month.

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Google’s Android platform was long seen as the next big thing, but so far, the only phone to run it, the G1, is junk. That should, hopefully change before the end of this year when new Android phones hit the market. But before then, the first real challenger should be coming — perhaps next month — with the Palm Pre. I’ve known a few people who have used the Pre a bit, and the consensus seems to be that it is the first true competitor, in terms of experience (both hardware and software), to the iPhone.

But it has some major handicaps — ones that I’ve already mentioned: 21 million, 35,000, and 1 billion. The iPhone has established itself as the standard that all mobile platforms now aspire to be. And with so much developer mindshare tied up in the platform, it will be hard for any other to come along and compete. The Pre, simply put, has to actually be better than the iPhone, if it wants to stand a chance.

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Apple, with its still relatively small overall market share, is in a position of power right now in the US. If it had an iPhone that was $99 and could run on any major carrier, it would completely dominate this market. Instead, it’s doing things its way — just as it has always done. And that has worked for the iPod, and for iTunes, and has been working the past few years for the Mac. But it leaves a small opening for a nice Android device or the Pre to have a chance. But they can make no mistakes. Or they will be written in the Wikipedia entry for Apple next to the Zune.

Read the whole story at TechCrunch: The State Of The iPhone Is Strong — Very Strong.

The ‘zen’ of program management lies in connecting the customer and value proposition with an actual product or service. The program manager brings the team together to make this connection between aspirations and ends.

The goal of this paper is to provide deeper insight into the program management role and clearly identify what makes program managers unique and uniquely valuable. While this document focuses on the value of program management, this value is only realized within the context of the broader team. Teamwork is paramount, and no one role carries the team.

This paper covers the three major steps of the software product cycle, and the value that program managers bring to each step:

• Planning: Framing the Landscape
• Design: Defining the Solution
• Execution: Delivering on the Value Proposition

Read the whole article at Zen of PM : Microsoft JobsBlog.

As a serial investor, I’ve enjoyed backing some good Web 2.0 companies, and it’s helped me develop a shortlist of criteria to cut the wheat from the chaff. After five minutes of a pitch, I know if I’m not going to invest, and after 30 minutes to an hour, I generally know if I will. Many entrepreneurs are product-focused, which leads them to pitch the brilliance of the product. Others are money-minded, so they can over think the business plan. But neither of these approaches answer the first few questions I want to know as an investor:

1. How will you reach a massive audience?

2. What is your unique value proposition?

3. Will your business be capital efficient?

Read the whole story at TechCrunch…

A programmer on your team is great at maintaining the old system. But the company has switched to a new platform. What do you do with the no-longer-effective developer?

The blog post “When the Job Changes But the Programmer Doesn’t | JavaWorld’s Daily Brew” is looking at the possible alternatives on how to handle such situations.