Google is the only thing saving the software business.

A while ago I posted about how Apple does nothing to protect developers from people cloning their application’s name, functionality, and often even their intellectual property. This has been a widespread topic since Apps became popular, and the overall response has been “tough luck” as the distributors (Apple, Google) mostly care about the platform boost in having a strong App Store and their own revenues from it … not ‘developer-to-developer’ relations.

Something interesting to consider is that, in the past, Google has always factored the blogosphere and external links as a way of building reputation for websites and helping established developers remain protected against shameless competition, much of which stems from third-world countries. These developers produce cheap copies of another developer’s work, hoping to gain even a small sliver of the market.

Unfortunately, the App Stores place everyone on the same level when selling, throwing any sort of online reputation out the window. It’s a question of application ratings, easily manipulated keywords, and overall download count (driven both externally from web-based links and internally from ‘in store’ discoveries) … to maintain your sales and rankings. Often these rankings themselves are easily manipulated, or suffer a spike or sudden downturn. Due to history not being a factor, it can be seriously difficult to recover from a downturn, even for an established developer.

The great thing about placing everyone on the same level is that it helps smaller developers get a head start, but it also significantly reduces the barriers to entry for scam artists trying to make a quick buck. There are companies literally in business of duplicating Apps, and not innovating. Eventually, the parasites will run out of hosts.

It’s fascinating that these App Stores are powered by the internet, but in some ways seem to completely neglect it and instead expect to survive within their own ecosystem. However, these systems need Google’s rankings as a basis or they will become an absolute, unregulated disaster. With more and more people discovering Apps within the stores themselves, less and less are discovering them via Google and the blogosphere. Ironically, the one thing separating many major Apps from their smaller competitors is a web presence, and the downloads or reputation generated by it. This may be acceptable now, but in the future as the web becomes less of a distribution focus for applications it may become a major issue in separating brands.

Furthermore, being that the systems for ranking applications and driving sales are easily manipulated and gamed, many developers choose to release duplicate Apps with the same functionality to target different keyword combinations and categories. We’ve suffered from this with my business, and so have may others. This further dilutes the system under which everyone receives the same marketing presence, and makes things tremendously more complicated for everyone to manage … including customers who are simply trying to download through the only platform from which they are able.

It is almost disgraceful the state that the App Stores are in based on how many duplicate Apps have turned up both from other developers and even the original developers themselves trying to protect their turf. Honest sellers are almost being penalized for attempting to be ethical and play by the rules, and there’s nothing that they can do considering that it is the only App Store. — Antitrust, anyone?

Attack of the iTunes App Store “name-squatters”!

A new spam-tactic is being used on the iTunes Store to score downloads sourced from your competitor’s predating traffic. That tactic (which is against Apple’s Terms of Service, but extremely difficult to enforce) … is adding trailing punctuation.

It seems the rules only apply specifically to exclamation marks or spacing at this point, but I’m expecting that to change very soon.

Explanation and example: I run a site called Mobile17 (as many of you know), and although we were later to the game than some of our competitors in the App Store, we’ve been in the ringtone making business since 2005. Our Apps were released under the brand “Ringtone Maker” in 2010, and we’ve seen success ever since by utilizing our existing web traffic and also the organic traffic from the iTunes App Store and subsequent press.

Recently, a slew of competition has prompted confusion in the App Store, as our competitors have released similar Apps under similar names using what’s called the “punctuation trick”. Generally, a developer adds a period, plus sign, or even a fake trademark symbol to bypass iTunes’ own algorithm for checking and assuring the App’s name is not already taken. This is why you don’t see 10 “Facebook” Apps on the App Store, aside from trademark issues.

Unfortunately, my complaints to the App Store, so far, have gone like this:

Thank you for contacting iTunes Connect.  You cannot use an app name that is substantially similar to an existing app name by adding or removing spaces, exclamation points or other characters. If you see this happening you can use this link to report the issue:

http://itunesconnect.apple.com/WebObjects/iTunesConnect.woa/wa/jumpTo?page=contactUs&contactfaq=rightsinfringement 

Of course, I’d asked if this behavior was acceptable. However, being that legal only handles copyright and trademark disputes, I was told that I could only file a DMCA complaint and that was it.

Meanwhile, during the process of trying to sort this out, yet another competitor has released Apps using the trademark sign and other punctuation as a differentiator:

Is Apple about to face a viral outbreak of third-party developers, squatting traffic and App names? Will this soon be a headache for more developers? — I truly hope that they will step in and clean up this trailing punctuation, before it’s too late.

Upgrading a MacBook’s hard-drive!

I have a 2006 MacBook for school and travel … base-model. It came with a 60GB hard-drive (5400RPM), and it’s time for an upgrade. So, I bought a 320GB 7200RPM Seagate drive (for about $60) to replace it before my upcoming trip to Japan! :)

Swapping it was pretty easy. The new drive is shown below in a static-proof bag, which is now in a drawer with my MacBook’s original drive inside it. So be careful opening your bag!

Supplies you may need:

1. A new hard-drive that’s going to fit your MacBook. (2.5 inch)
2. Various small screwdrivers… (a small flathead, a Torx T8)
3. Patience
4. A firewire cable (6-pin to 6-pin), and another Mac with a Firewire port that can hold a single file as large as your current MacBook’s drive. (enough free diskspace)

…

Step 1: Make a disk-image of your current drive’s data.
First of all, let me emphasize that doing ANY of these steps (not just this one) is AT YOUR OWN RISK. I’m a professional. Be careful. I cannot be held responsible for any damage to your data or yours or anyone else’s computer(s).

Unless you plan on reinstalling Mac OS X and recovering your data separately, you should make a backup image of your MacBook’s existing drive. One way of doing this is using an external disk-drive (with enough space, of course) and a program called SuperDuper. However, since I didn’t have an extra drive, and also didn’t feel like using the Mac OS X Install CD to restore my data… I chose a different method.

“Target Disk Mode” allows you to mount one Mac’s hard drive on the desktop of another. So, I attached my two computers together using a Firewire cable and booted my MacBook (it was turned off) while holding the “T” key. The MacBook’s drive appeared on my Mac Pro’s desktop, which has enough available disk space to hold the MacBook’s data, temporarily. Note the funky screensaver on the MacBook while this mode is enabled… don’t forget to plug in your power cord!

I don’t believe you can do this with a USB cable, and some of the new MacBooks do not have Firewire ports. I agree, this sucks. However, mine is old and from 2006… so it still does! :)

So, now that you have access to the data: let’s make a backup. Open the “Disk Utility” application (from the “Utilities” folder, inside “Applications”) and select your MacBook’s drive. MAKE SURE THAT YOU SELECT THE CORRECT DRIVE. Mine is called “smash’s HD” and has an orange/yellow icon because it’s connected via Firewire. Note that I also have a Bootcamp drive “smash’s Windows HD”, but I’m NOT copying that to the new drive because I never use it. I use VMWare Fusion instead of Bootcamp.

With your MacBook’s drive selected on the left-side of the window, then click “New Image”. This will initiate the process of creating a perfect “image” of that drive, as long as its in working order. It should be!

A window will popup asking you to choose a name for the disk-image, and also what type. I chose “read only” because I don’t need to edit any of the data. I would not choose “compressed”… which is the default. This is going to take longer and slow your computer down while the process is running.

Once you’ve done all that and continued, your computer will begin crunching a copy of all of the data on your existing MacBook’s drive into a single file on your desktop (or other computer). Note that this file will be the same size as your hard-drive on the MacBook. I hope you have enough free space!!

Once this process has completed… RUN THE COMMAND SHOWN ABOVE on the image file you’ve created. It takes 20-30 minutes and you will not be able to begin copying data back to your MacBook afterward until you’ve done this. No idea why.

…

Step 2: Upgrading the actual drive.
So this was fun, and surprisingly easy. Again, doing this is AT YOUR OWN RISK. On some of the newer Macs you have to rip apart the entire computer (okay, I make it sound way worse than it is… but it’s not so bad) to get at the hard-drive. On this one, it was removing the battery and three screws.

Remove the battery. Use a coin (or something, a key maybe?) to turn the battery lock and it should pop out.

Then, unscrew the three screws (note: they don’t separate from the aluminum, just unscrew them and don’t worry about it) to unmask the RAM. I found that an eyeglass screwdriver from my swiss-army knife worked best for this. Be careful not to strip them out!

On the left-side, there’s a white plastic tab that’s been tucked-in under the drive. Carefully expose it.

Pull gently, and the drive should slide right out!

Then, separate the drive from its tray … you need a Torx “T8” screwdriver. I have one, but I couldn’t find it. So I just gently used pliers to turn the screws loose. :)

After that, just repeat the steps in reverse order with the new drive, and you’ll be done! Reinstall the battery after everything is safely and properly put back together, and boot the computer once again holding the “T” key to enter “Target Disk Mode”.

…

Step 3: Reconnect the Firewire cable between computers, and restore your data!
So hopefully by now, your main computer has finished “scanning your image for restore.” So, let’s restore it! :)

The drive should be recognized by your computer if the MacBook is in “Target Disk Mode”, but if it’s an empty drive it won’t show up on the desktop. But it will still appear in Disk Utility.

First we need to create a partition on that drive. So highlight it, and visit the “Partition” tab. AGAIN, MAKE SURE THAT YOU SELECT THE CORRECT DRIVE. It’ll be yellow, same as before. If you select the wrong one you could erase the wrong computer! However, I will say that Macs are pretty “self-aware” about not letting you erase themselves and I don’t think that works… but still. Easy mistake to make if you’ve never done this before.

Once you have the new drive selected (and you’re sure it’s the correct drive) … Choose “1 Partition” from the “Volume Scheme” … most users won’t want more than 1. Name it “Macintosh HD”, but I chose “smash’s HD”… haha.

Then click the “Options” button, and make sure that “GUID Partition Table” is selected.

Then, back on the original “Partition” screen… click “Apply”. Disk Utility will setup your drive and make it usable.

Last step: Put your data back on the [now] usable drive! Go to the “Restore” tab  …. for Source, select the disk image you originally created and then scanned for “restorability”. From the left-side, DRAG the drive you just partitioned (Macintosh HD, yellow) into the “Destination” field. — You may uncheck the “Erase destination” box since partitioning already erased the drive.

Once your data restores, you may click the “Eject” button at the top of Disk Utility and unplug your MacBook’s firewire cable. Then turn the MacBook off. Boot it again while holding the Option key (this time) and select your new drive from the boot list! It should work just as before, but with the new drive of course! :)

Yay. If you Mac doesn’t boot the next time… hold Option again. To fix this, visit the System Preferences application once inside Mac OS X and adjust the “Startup Disk” preferences. This problem will not occur again.

Good luck!

10 Things that “Absolutely suck” about the iPhone. (Yes I have one)

This is a hands-on report, and I really hope that they fix as many of these issues as they can!! Cross-posted at MacRumors for discussion http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=322382

Today I went to the Apple store around 2PM EDT and waited for the iPhone with some friends that I’d had no idea would be there. I bought my phone, and was excited. Got home, couldn’t get it to connect. After 15 minutes, realized that a new version of iTunes (7.3) had been released.

Neither ‘Software Update’ or iTunes itself had prompted me about it, so I ended up manually downloading from Apple.com — problem solved. Got my content synced over (chose a few specific playlists, mail accounts, photo albums, and the “Unplayed” podcast criteria), and began exploring the iPhone’s various features.

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1. The overall lack of a [visible] filesystem, and web-browser limitations.
I want to be able to download things from the web on my phone (ringtones from indie bands, content-creations from Mobile17 or band-promotions at Mozes, images from websites that I want to save and open later on my desktop) — Why did I pay for 8GB of space that I can’t friggin use! Is this a joke?

Downloading music is not possible from the iTunes Store (not accessible on-the-go) or even just random websites. The same goes for ringtones, spreadsheets, and other files. One thing that it does do surprisingly well, though, is read PDFs!

There is also no flash support (yet) as many already are aware of, so no cartoons or games either.

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2. Why can’t I do [obvious task]?
Numerous times I’ve run into problems with not being able to do very simple tasks… the iPhone’s simplicity actually makes it MORE complicated.

~~ Example:
I got an e-mail from a company I’d ordered car parts from concerning an issue I’d had, they asked me to take a photo. I jumped at the opportunity to test out the phone’s camera (yay!) and was pleased with the quality. I then went back to the Mail section (after taking the picture) and clicked ‘Reply’, wrote a short note, then went to attach the picture. Wait… you CAN’T ATTACH THE PICTURE! There’s no option, since there’s no visible file-system.

I then back-tracked to return to the ‘Camera’ section via the Main menu… clicked the icon I assumed was ‘Send this photo’ (there are no popup ‘text-tool-tips’ to help you [as far as I know], so you can only guess what certain buttons do if they’re vaguely represented by their icons) and was presented with options to either ‘Use as Wallpaper’, ‘Email Photo’ (ding ding ding!), or ‘Assign to Contact’ — which I’m sure will sync with your Address Book back to your Mac, very cool.

After choosing the E-mail option, I was presented with a blank message, not including his e-mail address or any of what I’d typed before. Of course he’s not in my Address Book, so I had to go back to the Mail section, write his e-mail address on my hand (since you can’t copy and paste??) with a PEN…. analog style (wtf!!), then type it in manually into that new message with a new subject. Is this a joke? How is that productive at all… shame on you Apple.

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3. You can’t type fast without a lot of practice, and entering passwords isn’t so private.
Unlike typing (T9 or even just Multitap) on a regular handset with raised buttons, all of the keys feel the same on this one… and triggering the wrong one is ridiculously easy. It seems like they wrote in something to correct common mistakes, but overall your days of casual typing on a familiar 3x4 grid of keys are over. You really need to pay attention on this one or you’re screwed.

The other thing I noticed was that when you’re logging into various websites… even though Safari blocks out the text as you enter your password… the keyboard still magnifies whatever you’re typing to a distance visible from at least 5 feet. Not very safe. This is unfortunately a design flaw with the text entry in general, don’t plan on surfing the web in public yet.

So far, the best way I’ve found to type on the iPhone is by flipping it sideways like a T-Mobile Sidekick. With both thumbs doing the work, you can keep the device steady with your palms and your lettering consistent. However, you can’t activate the tilt feature in any area but the web-browser (so you’re screwed in the SMS/E-mail areas, where you really need to be able to type). Why would they do that?

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4. Messaging? What messaging? Sorry, distracted by all of the Junk E-mail.
No AOL/MSN Instant Messengers, no picture messaging, no video-conferencing (although that’s a bit of a long-shot).. and even just sending pictures via e-mail is a pain in the arse unless it’s the start of a conversation. (see problem #2)

Also, clearly visible is the lack of any sort of Junk Mail filter. I get a lot of SPAM and this is absolutely critical. Having my e-mail on-the-go always seemed like a luxury to me…. Now that I have that opportunity, anyone looking over my shoulder will see me scrolling through ads for fake health products and notices from banks I’ve never even heard of saying my accounts have been compromised. How irritating, it could at least import the rules I’ve setup on my Mac’s mail client.

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5. Menu navigation blunders.
“Back” buttons change into “Edit” buttons in a few areas… so just when you expect to be taken back further to the Main menu, you get sent into a completely new area. You then have to toggle back out of it with the same button. Argh… extra tapping.

Also, I have to click several times needlessly past the Mail folders just to toggle between Mail accounts… similarly structured to that of an iPod, but with another useless level. Think about how annoying “Artist -> Albums -> Useless -> Songs” would be… having to tap that extra time for no reason — it’s like that. I don’t need to go into the “Sent” folder of any given mail account unless I’m going out of the way to look for it. Even better would be a single screen that I can view the three newest [non-SPAM] messages I’ve received at each address, but now I’m just dreaming based on what I’ve seen so far… Sigh.

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6. You need an adapter to use other headphones.
The iPhone’s earphone connector IS standard 1/8” jack… but it’s recessed. You need an extender to plug in any other type of headphones. Apple’s earphones hurt my ears so I have no choice but to lug around an antenna-like product from Belkin that cost an extra $10 and is easily lost. Lame.

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7. You cannot use the phone as a modem, or browse/transfer files via Bluetooth. Don’t forget your iPod cable!
This is a HUGE dealbreaker for me. I loved being able to occasionally tether through my old phone via Bluetooth and surf the web on my laptop… especially on trips. The iPhone does not support this. I am outraged… every phone I’ve owned in the last 5 years has and this doesn’t? And this costs how much?

The only option you have (so far) is to take the new AT&T; SIM card included with the iPhone and insert it into any other
phone to emulate this feature. It can be removed with a paperclip or sewing needle inserted into the small hole on the top of the phone (there’s a panel that releases and slides out from the phone). Tricky, but functional.

It seems that there are no services offered via Bluetooth other than voice headsets (for calling)… not even syncing when you don’t have an iPod cable handy! Lame!

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8. Google Maps — Before I find where I’m going, let me find where I am. Hold on.
All phones are required to report a latitude and longitude coordinate reading on Emergency calls in the USA. Why they couldn’t use this information to point the map to where you’re currently standing? There’s clearly a reason for why they didn’t do this, but having to zoom-in on or type-in where you’re at already is just plain annoying.

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9. I’m locked in with AT&T; for 2 years on this phone!
Argh! I hope this all goes well since they sure have most of us in a bind. :(

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10. I had to make this list…
…which is the first time I’ve ever been really disappointed with such a major product. :(

[I am] eagerly awaiting the iPhone.

I can’t wait to pickup an Apple iPhone later this month.
The main reason for jumping-ahead and being an early adopter is that I’ll still have my Sony Ericsson W810i (3.9 x 1.8 x 0.8 inches) as a backup. However, the iPhone is 4.5 x 2.4 x 0.46 inches… so although it’s slightly thinner than my current phone, it does stick out a half an inch more on each corner.

So, I’m going to have to reduce my wallet’s contents to make room for the “brick”. I’m not a fan of the unsightly pocket bulge, and others have the same concerns with this release. I’m also not a huge fan of the current design… it seems very un-Apple to release a grungy black, chic, aluminum rounded device. The phone should have definitely been a plain glossy-black/white-plastic single-color.

Regardless, I’m really excited to integrate on-the-go with my favorite web apps and e-mail. At one point I tried to adopt a Blackberry, but if Apple’s gotten it together… it could be a winner in the business and personal market alike.

Oh, and hopefully it works with Mobile17… which just crossed the 6-million mark last night. ;)

Mighty Mouse: Round #2

When I bought my Mac Pro, it came with a wired Mighty Mouse. It wasn’t bad, but the little scroll “ball” really pissed me off. It would get clogged with lint and the small rollers would stop grabbing.

And, of course the thing is nearly impossible to take apart without breaking. I tried anyway, and it was never the same after. After being unhappy for months, I picked up a new, wireless Mighty Mouse at the Apple Store this morning and also received a tip: “When the ball stops working, turn the mouse upside down and move it around on your palm so that the ball can spin freely in the air and release anything caught inside.” Okay… I guess I’ll give that a try. However, this new one feels different when I scroll so I suspect that they’ve updated the design. I am pleased :)

Mac Mini *COMPLETE* Technical Disassembly Documentation (PDF)

Another friend, after seeing my site, slipped me this PDF. It has the *COMPLETE* disassembly of the Mac Mini… including all required tools, high-quality images… everything you could possibly need.

Download File
See also: my previous post with a video on how to open the case safely.

I am not responsible for any damage to your Mac Mini. This is purely for instruction ONLY. Apple states that as long as you do not BREAK your Mac Mini while working on the inside, it is still covered under warranty. A quote from this article, which compares the Mac Mini to a cheap Dell PC… a very interesting read.

Again, I’m not sure about the legality for me to post this… but until I hear otherwise it will remain. This, and the movie, are official Apple productions (as far as I know) and are the best references available. I would not trust anything else when messing with my Mac Mini.

My other Mac Mini related posts:
- taking-apart the mac mini (how-to disassembly video)
- Mac Mini vs. Airport Extreme/Express?

Taking-apart the Mac Mini! (how-to disassembly video)

Somebody leaked me this video… it demonstrates how to crack-open the mac mini’s casing, which makes all parts available to the user via further disassembly screws. I’m not sure if it’s legal for me to post this or not, but here it is! (until I hear differently, this will remain available here.)

Download the movie… (requires Quicktime to view. it’s free….)
see also: My newer post with a complete PDF of how to take the entire Mac Mini apart… with high-res photos and a list of required tools! niiiceee!!

I am not responsible for any damage to your Mac Mini. This is purely for instruction ONLY.

AppleInsider has additional information on the Mac Mini’s hardware here. This is key if you’re planning on purchasing upgrades.

Apple states that as long as you do not BREAK your Mac Mini while working on the inside, it is still covered under warranty. A quote from this article, which compares the Mac Mini to a cheap Dell PC… a very interesting read.

Update: Welcome Fellow Slashdotters! Here’s another article I wrote on the Mac Mini… entitled: ‘Mac Mini vs. Airport Extreme/Express?‘… “With Apple’s recent release of the Mac Mini for just $499, the following question arises in my mind: Why buy an Airport Extreme ($199) or Airport Express base station ($129) when the Mac Mini can do so much more? Price aside, the Mac Mini soars past the capabilties of the others.” Check it out for sure. -smash