You might think app design is app design, whether the software is being developed for iOS or Android. But, in fact, creating highly polished, elegant-looking apps is simply easier to do when developing for iOS. That's the prevailing conventional wisdom among developers who code for both platforms. More »

Apple’s Worldwide Developer Conference is scheduled to take place in San Francisco from June 11th to June 15th. Tickets for the event sold out in less than two hours, leaving many West Coast developers in the dark, and the Cupertino-based company is enforcing restrictions this year that prevent tickets from being transferred. For developers who aren’t interested in legally changing their name to get past Apple’s restrictions, there is an alternative — Indie Developer Labs. “Indie Developer Labs is an open area where developers are provided with space to work, free Wi-Fi, and an open environment to connect with other developers. Our mission is to help foster the collaborative spirit of the Apple developer community,” the organizers said, adding that a hackathon event is being planned as well. The event is being organized by Kyle Kinkade, Craig Fox and Nate True, who are looking to “help the developer community have a place to collaborate during WWDC.” IDL will take place from June 12th to June 15th in San Francisco, just blocks away from where Apple’s event will be held at the Moscone Center.

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Although Google's had its +1 button all over the web for some time now, helping folks show their allegiance to things they like, it's lacked a dedicated button just for sharing content. That's now changed, as the Google+ development team recently let loose the Share button. The button is similar in appearance to its +1 sibling, but rather than just being a shortcut for quickly slapping content with a virtual high-five, it gives you a way to easily share pages on your Google+ profile. (Yes, you could share through the +1 button, too, but consider this one a bit more focused). Best of all, the Google+ Share button is ready to roll, so move your cursor to the source link below if you'd like to put it on your site or find out more. Happy Liking sharing!

Google+ Share button gives you another option aside from plain 'ol +1s originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 25 Apr 2012 16:21:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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To close out each week, the Android Developer Relations team hosts a Friday App Review video. This Friday, however, the focus is far from whatever apps are being showcased (psst... it's Handy Scanner); instead, all eyes are on the Share to 'Drive' option, seen just below the 'Bluetooth' logo in the screen capture above. It's shown at the 32:53 mark in the video just after the break, and while this certainly isn't confirmation that Goog's own cloud storage service will be hitting the masses soon, it's one of the more tangible pieces of evidence that Google Drive is at least a real initiative. Come to think of it, we've got a couple of passes to Google I/O 2012, which just so happens to get going in around two months. Anyone else feeling that tug of puzzle pieces coming together?

Continue reading Google app review video shows Share to 'Drive' option

Google app review video shows Share to 'Drive' option originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 20 Apr 2012 23:01:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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In a move that's likely to grab the attention of more than a few Android developers, Amazon has announced that its arbitrary $20 limit for in-app purchases via the Appstore is no more. The company announced this change in an email to developers, which follows a tweak to the Appstore's parental controls. In-app purchasing is rather new territory for the Amazon crew, which first unveiled the necessary APIs just last week. There's no word on what new monetary limit is now in place, but make sure to watch your spending, kids -- some of these apps are incredibly habit-forming.

Amazon Appstore shatters $20 ceiling for in-app purchases originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 17 Apr 2012 08:02:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Royal Canadian Mint aims to kickstart digital currency with MintChip developer challenge originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 05 Apr 2012 08:36:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Not like we haven't seen this dog-and-pony show before, but Flurry's latest round of analytics -- which measured revenue of 11 million daily active users from mid-January through the end of February 2012 -- shows Amazon's Appstore pulling in a shocking amount of revenue given the short life that it has lived. Apple's strength in sales has been well documented, but the latest report shows that for every $1 generated in the iTunes App Store, $0.89 is being spent in the Amazon Appstore. Looking more broadly, the numbers show that just $0.23 are generated in the Google Play halls for every $1 spent in the App Store, but that's hardly a new phenomenon; the ease of sideloading (amongst other factors) has raised complaints from Android developers for years now. Flurry's conclusion is that Google's core strength simply isn't in running a store -- something it's about to do once more with Android slates -- while both Apple and Amazon excel in doing just that. Curiously, Windows Phone and BlackBerry were left off of this report, but we're hoping to see those cats thrown in the next 'go round. After all, RIM sure seems certain that its developers are making out just fine.

Flurry's analytics: Apple's App Store revenue still leading, but Amazon Appstore close behind originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 31 Mar 2012 11:26:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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While Americans have more than one way to consume those e-ink verses, those in the old country are largely stuck with Amazon's still-expanding Kindle family or e-reader hardware lacking the clout of a publisher. But Europeans may get the chance to pick up a Nook in the future, following news that Barnes & Noble has filed for a new digital company in Germany. Add in the publisher's recent (and slightly bizarre) meet-up in London with app developers and it looks likely that we'll be seeing some European presence from the bookseller in the future -- hopefully with all the associated content already seen on the other side of the Atlantic.

Barnes & Noble establishes German base: Will the Nook visit Europe? originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 29 Mar 2012 06:36:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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It's telling, perhaps, when a VP for your company uses the word "finally" while discussing plans to release test models for your upcoming mobile operating system -- but it's certainly a pretty accurate sentiment when dealing BlackBerry 10. Talking up RIM's plans to release up to 2,000 prototypes running the OS at the BlackBerry Jam conference in May, executive Alec Saunders had this to say: "It's tangible evidence of the company making progress to finally shipping the device." Barring any further setbacks, the operating system formerly known as BBX is set to hit before year's end.

[Thanks, Neil]

RIM putting BlackBerry 10 test units in developers' hands in May originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 24 Mar 2012 11:36:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Do you like your M-I-C-K-E-Y M-O-U-S-E with a side of eXtreme? So do the developers at Junction Point, which is why a sequel to the mouse's first Epic is on its way. But the impending release of that title's not all grown-up Mouseketeers-cum-gamers have to look forward to, as two special WiiMote peripherals are also apparently on deck. Shown off at a preview event for Epic Mickey 2, the prototype accessories are made to mimic in-game "weapons," like Oswald's controller and Mickey's paintbrush. The designs aren't final, but as you'll see in the source below, they should make for an excellent addition to any diehard's Disneyana collection.

Epic Mickey 2 controllers invoke the power of the brush, are made for you and me originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 24 Mar 2012 06:28:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Holy crap! CyanogenMod, the custom ROM of choice for many power users, will no longer offer root access upon first install. Now before you panic, let's make this part clear: everyone so inclined may still enable superuser access -- for ADB, apps or both -- from the Developer Options menu. The biggest change, in fact, is that CyanogenMod is making a significant departure from the majority of custom ROM developers, which offer root access to all users by default (and often without their knowledge). The move is an attempt by CyanogenMod leaders to make the platform more secure, and given the number of ROMs that are based on CyanogenMod (or glean its packages), we wouldn't be particularly surprised to see this feature become more commonplace amongst other custom Android ROMs. To learn more about the rationale of the project leaders, be sure to hit up the source link below.

CyanogenMod disables root access by default, now requires user configuration originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 16 Mar 2012 22:06:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Apple on Friday released OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion Developer Preview 2 to OS X developers. According to TheNextWeb, the Cupertino-based company also posted an extensive list of known issues and bugs within the latest operating system. This second OS X 10.8 release comes exactly one month after Apple announced Mountain Lion, introducing developers to iMessage on Mac computers, a new Notification Center, Game Center integration, AirPlay mirroring, enhanced iCloud support and a number of redesigned apps.

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Last month it was discovered that the popular social network Path was uploading entire address books — including email addresses, names and phone numbers — to its external servers. Path’s actions were a direct violation of Apple’s terms of agreement, and the Cupertino-based company was apparently not happy. Bloomberg’s BusinessWeek reported on Thursday that Path co-founder Dave Morin was hauled into Apple’s headquarters and grilled by CEO Tim Cook and other executives on the matter. Apple remained silent as other developers were called out for stealing users’ contact data, but the company finally issued a statement claiming that “any app wishing to access contact data will require explicit user approval in a future software release.â€�

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The "internet of things" is quite the buzzed about phenomena these days and everyone wants in on the action. But, much of the hype so far has been associated with that DIY staple, the Arduino, and its admittedly under-powered 8-bit MCU. ARM is looking to put more power at developers fingertips, though, with the Cortex-M0+, an ultra low-power processor designed for embedded applications. The 32-bit chip is based on the existing M0, but with significant tweaks that greatly improve performance while keeping power draw to a minimum. Freescale and NXP should be first out the box with licensed processors and, while we wouldn't anticipate these showing up in a refrigerator or printer just yet, we wouldn't be shocked if they drew some interest from hobbyists. Check out the complete PR after the break.

Continue reading ARM Cortex-M0+ is a low-power, low cost 32-bit processor for the 'internet of things'

ARM Cortex-M0+ is a low-power, low cost 32-bit processor for the 'internet of things' originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 13 Mar 2012 18:07:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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In December, it was reported that Google is working on a solution that will boost the capabilities of its Voice Actions on Android-powered devices in an effort to compete with Apple’s Siri voice assistant. The service, which was previously code-named “Majel,â€� will launch as “Assistant” according to a report from TechCrunch. Google intends its Assistant service to go beyond Siri’s functionality, and the software giant will maintain complete control of all the layers involved. According to the website’s sources, Assistant is being created by the Android team and has three goals: to put the world’s knowledge into a format a computer can understand, to create a personalization layer and to build a mobile, voice-controlled “do engine” that will help users accomplishing real-life goals. Unlike Apple, Google reportedly intends to make the service available to developers in an effort to broaden its functionality. The service will reportedly be unveiled in the fourth quarter of 2012.

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Google on Tuesday announced on the company’s developer blog that it has updated its Android Application Statistics tool in an effort to provide more detailed information to developers. The tool originally provided apps’ performance throughout various countries, system versions and device models, among other data. The update brings a new way to analyze data as well as a redesigned user interface and new installation metrics that can measure unique user and device stats. Developers can view active installs, total installs and daily installs of their applications along with unique user and device data, and they have access to uninstall data as well. Additionally, developers will be able to monitor which carrier customers are on and which version of each app customers are using.

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New Android Market stats make it easier to obsess over your app's performance originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 29 Feb 2012 15:14:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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