You all know Clinton Fitch of Clinton Fitch (dot)com.  He is a great friend of this si rte, and a fantastic reviewer.  As most of you know, he has spent most of his time online with the Windows Mobile platform.  He is a member of Mobius as well as a Windows Mobile MVP.  So, you can imagine all of our surprise when Clinton announced this week that not only was he using an iPhone, but he was also going to start reviewing iPhone apps.

Now…I did not actually look this up, and I am no Biblical scholar, but I am pretty sure I remember the Seven Signs of the Apocalypse.  Right there between the rivers turning to blood and the smiting of the first born son, I am pretty sure it must read, “Windows Mobile MVP starts using an iPhone.”  And hen it continues on to read Thou Shalt Not Kill…OK, I did say I am no Biblical scholar.  The point here, though, is that Clinton has turned to what many are calling the dark side, and like the F1 races he enjoys, he has gone full throttle. 

Today, Clinton unleashed not one, but two iPhone app reviews.  First he tackled Exact Magic Weather Radar, and then it was right on to the Zyrtec Allergy Cast.  What is really cool here is that as much time as I have spent scouring the App Store, and reading iPhone App reviews, I had never heard of either of these apps.   Which just goes to show that there is really something for everyone in there.

Don’t go thinking Clinton is done with Windows Mobile, though.  Despite his apparent enthusiasm for the iPhone, he told me earlier that he keeps his favorite Windows Mobile device right next to the iPhone on his desk.  So you can expect to continue to find a broad range of reviews…now on multiple platforms from Clinton.

Check out Clinton’s first forays into the iTunes App Store: Exact Magic Weather Radar and Zyrtec Allergy Cast over at Clinton Fitch (dot)com.

Are you looking to beat the holiday season once and for all, with the goal of actually losing weight instead of gaining over Thanksgiving and Christmas?  Can you imagine how much more momentum your New Years resolution might carry if you were already in the process of losing weight and making more informed decisions about your health?  Enter iambic‘s Health & Diet Manager, available for Palm OS, Windows Mobile and Blackberry.  iambic, perhaps most well known for their PIM software Agendus, is running a special offer on their Health & Diet Manager bundled package.  The bundled package, including the full featured desktop and handheld versions of Health & Diet Manager, is currently on sale for $14.99.  This is a whopping 63% off the retail price for both titles purchased independently.

iambic is running the promotional offer through next Friday, October 16th, so now just might be the time to consider getting an early start on the holiday season and win the battle of the “bulge”.  See below for the full press release.

iambic is running a special promotional pricing on their bestselling Health & Diet Manager good through Friday October 16 2009.

Using the coupon code HDMBUNDLES the integrated mobile device and windows desktop bundle can be had for 63% off the sold separately price at only $14.99 for both applications. Health & Diet Manager is available for all Palm devices, Windows Mobile and Blackberry. iambic Inc. develops integrated solutions for these devices and others including iPhone and Android.

Health and Diet Manager helps the user make and manage good choices.  As the user painlessly tracks food intake, exercise and if desired, blood pressure, glucose etc. Health & Diet Manager creates a database of that data. Data can be viewed and analyzed in list or chart form.  For weight loss, Health & Diet Manger calculates calorie requirements to meet target weight goals.  Included is a database of common foods and the nutritional values. The nutritional database can easily be built upon by adding new foods.  Users in the Weight Watchers program can track daily points.

More information about the special pricing is available at:
http://www.iambic.com/emailpreview/?HDMBundles50OFF_OCT09

iambic offers a 30 day unrestricted demo on this and other products at iambic.com. For a limited time the mobile and desktop bundle is available for $14.99.

[DISCLAIMER:  I am neither affiliated with iambic nor am I receiving any compensation for posting this news item.]

There was a lot of talk recently regarding Tweetie for iPhone and their latest upgrade. I’m a little late to the game, but rather than letting sleeping dogs lie I thought I’d throw in a developer POV. I’m not sure if Tweetie chose the best solution to their problem, but I do support their decision.

So read on after the jump for a developer perspective on this debate…

The Case for Upgrade Charges

Here is the bottom line – adding new features is expensive. Sometimes it’s even more expensive than writing the original application. This money needs to come from somewhere. There are four options:

• A constant influx of new customers
• Charity
• Someone else pays for it
• Upgrade charges

New Customers
One way that you can pay the development costs associated with improving a product is with income generated by new sales. If enough people buy the product, beyond the number needed to cover your initial investment and ongoing operations, you have money to pay for improvements.

This is wonderful – as long as you have a constant flow of new customers. The reality is that at some point after initial release you drop into something more akin to sustenance levels. In a worst case scenario, everyone who is going to purchase the product now owns it and the flow of new customers is so slow that it hardly makes sense financially to sustain the product at all.

When this happens, when the influx of new customers fails to do more than sustain the product, there will be no more upgrades. Period. There is no emotion behind this decision – it’s simple accounting. This is what we risk with the Apple store where every upgrade is free.

Right now, people have been happily using our products for more than 12 years. Over that time we’ve continually improved the products, adding features, supporting new operating systems, and generally maintaining them. We can do that because the upgrade charge model supports this. Take this away and … well, you get the picture.

Charity
You see this approach with the hobbyist developers who aren’t in this to make a profit. These guys will continue to add new features even if there is no financial incentive to do so – until they lose interest or get a paying job at least. Software developers who do this for a living can’t afford the charity model. At some point the money runs out.

Someone Else Pays
And don’t mistake “charity” with “someone else is paying.” Ad supported products, products that convince you to buy something else made by the developer, and similarly supported projects might look like charity on the surface but in the end someone is paying for that ongoing development. For instance, the money to develop our free applications comes out of our marketing budget. This works for a couple apps but wouldn’t work on a large scale.

Upgrade Charges
When 1, 2, and 3 won’t cut it, it leaves us with one alternative – we have to charge for upgrades. As I said, the money to pay for the development has to come from somewhere and traditionally this is how it has been done.

Under most software sales models the reseller offers a way for us to charge a reduced amount to existing customers for the upgrade. I mean, nobody wants to make you buy the whole application twice. This is one of the real problems with the iTunes App Store.  Not only does Apple not give us a way to charge for upgrades, they don’t give us a way to charge less to our loyal customers.

“In-App Purchases” I hear you say? Sorry. That isn’t the intent of that program, and a developer who tries to use this model to sell upgrades risks App Store rejection.

So what is a developer to do?
Let’s take a look at what Tweetie did. They start out by charging a price that is essentially an “upgrade price” from day one. Tweetie is easily a $4.99 application, but they charged $2.99 from the beginning. When they added a bunch of new features, they again charged the “upgrade price” for the application – $2.99. It’s a hacky, ugly way to do it but it works. Users who want the features can purchase the upgrade – users who don’t want them can keep using the old version.

It’s the same reason we charge $9.99 for eWallet.  eWallet for iPhone is a $19.95 application, but since Apple doesn’t give us a way to charge our existing users a discounted upgrade price (our upgrade price is $10 normally), we’re stuck giving EVERYONE the discount.

The problem is not Tweetie – the problem is that Apple hasn’t offered a long-term sustainable development environment and until Apple improves this, folks like Tweetie are going to pay the price.

Oh, and Microsoft – I hope your Marketplace guys are listening!

Marc Tassin is the Senior Product Manager for Ilium Software, a mobile software developer in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Marc has worked with Ilium Software for nine of its 12 year history, and in that time he has watched the rise and fall of many mobile devices, scores of products, and entire corporations. He joined the JAMM team to provide a developer perspective on the mobile marketplace and share some of his experience in the industry.

Now here is a nice looking phone.  Of course, that is the Samsung Moment, which will be available on the sprint Network November 1.  This Android based phone features a whopping 3.2 inch AMOLED screen.  That is going to give you a bright, vibrant space in which to work or watch video.  It also features:

• 3.2-megapixel camera with flash and camcorder with auto-focus
• Advanced Stereo Bluetooth wireless technology
• Amazon MP3 Store and Media Player with 3.5-millimeter headphone jack
• Expandable Memory: 2GB MicroSD card included; supports up to 32GB MicroSD card
• a wealth of Sprint and third party apps

There is plenty more to see here, so keep reading for the full press release. 

Sprint and Samsung Telecommunications America, the number one mobile phone provider in the United States, today announced the upcoming availability of Samsung Moment, Samsung’s first U.S. handset integrating the open and innovative Android platform with the high-speed connectivity of America’s most dependable 3G network (EVDO Rev. A.) and the best value in wireless with the Any Mobile, Anytime calling feature.

Samsung Moment represents a new generation of portable Internet access devices and provides access to built-in Google™ mobile services, including Google Search™, Google Maps™, Gmail™ and YouTube™, as well as thousands of applications available in Android Market™.  Samsung Moment also offers the first Sprint 3.2-inch AMOLED touch-screen, creating crisper colors and wider viewing angles than other display screens. Samsung Moment is powered by an 800 MHz processor, making this device one of the fastest wireless phones available today.

Beginning Nov. 1, customers can purchase Samsung Moment through all Sprint channels including Web (www.sprint.com), Telesales (1-800-SPRINT1) and our national retail partners. Retail pricing will be $179.99 (excluding taxes) after a $50 instant savings and a $100 mail-in-rebate with a two-year service agreement. Pre-registration for this phone begins today at www.sprint.com/moment.

“Sprint is thrilled to add the powerful and sophisticated Samsung Moment to our growing portfolio of Android devices,” said Kevin Packingham, senior vice president of product development for Sprint. "This is the second Android product that will be available from Sprint this holiday season.  With a full QWERTY keyboard, Samsung Moment allows customers to easily access the thousands of applications available in the Android Market. The excitement around Android products confirms Sprint’s decision several years ago to be a charter member of the Open Handset Alliance and lead the Open revolution.”

“The launch of Samsung Moment is an exciting realization of our commitment to providing consumers open, powerful and versatile devices,” said Omar Khan, senior vice president of strategy and product management for Samsung Mobile. “With the combination of the Android platform, applications, Web browser and a powerful 800 MHz processor, the user experience options are unlimited.”

Leveraging a library of applications

As charter members of the Open Handset Alliance™, Sprint and Samsung are closely aligned with the Android community. Through Android Market, Samsung Moment users can download thousands of applications, widgets and games on their phone. Pandora^®, ShopSavvy^TM, Twitter^TM, Shazam^TM, amazon.com^®, USA Today^®, Flixster^®, PacMan^TM, CraigslistChecker^TM, and MySpace^TM Mobile are among the countless well-liked applications already available on Android Market. Additionally, customers can access Sprint Navigation and Sprint exclusive applications NFL Mobile Live and NASCAR Sprint Cup Mobile^SM already preinstalled on the device. Samsung Moment is a perfect solution for anyone who wants the freedom to stay connected on-the-go and enjoy a PC-like experience.

In addition, Sprint recently launched new tools on its developer Web site designed to make it easy for developers to create innovative applications for the Sprint Android-powered devices – http://developer.sprint.com/android. The enhancements will give developers access to Sprint products and services, including location-based services, messaging and geofencing through the Sprint Developer Sandbox. Developers using the site and tools will easily be able to create and test applications for the Android platform on the Sprint network.

Application developers will have a chance to learn more about Android at Sprint’s ninth annual developer conference this fall. The Sprint Open Developer Conference, Oct. 26-28 in Santa Clara, Calif., is open to all attendees and will feature information through speaker sessions and coding camps on developing applications for a range of platforms, including Android. For details, go to http://developer.sprint.com/devcon2009.

“The Samsung Moment and the Android platform are helping Sprint drive openness and innovation,” said Andy Rubin, vice president of mobile platforms at Google. “With the Samsung Moment’s built-in suite of Google mobile services, along with thousands of applications on Android Market, Sprint customers can enjoy a unique mobile experience.”

Samsung Moment offers simple device navigation through an optical joystick located just below the expansive display. It features Wi-Fi capability, integrated GPS navigation and accelerometer. Additional features include:

• 3.2-megapixel camera with flash and camcorder with auto-focus
• Stereo Bluetooth^® 2.0 wireless technology
• Expandable memory up to 32GB
• Sprint TV^® with live and on-demand programming
• NFL Mobile Live and NASCAR Sprint Cup Mobile^SM
• Easy access to social networking sites, including Facebook^®, Flickr^® and Twitter^TM
• Media player with 3.5-millimeter headphone jack
• Visual voice mail for quick and easy access to specific voice mail messages
• Access to personal and corporate email through Active Sync

Customers who purchase the new Samsung Moment can also take advantage of Sprint’s newly announced Any Mobile, Anytime feature, which gives customers on the Sprint network unlimited calling to ANY wireless customer in the United States on any carrier anytime by selecting Sprint’s Everything^SM Data plans. This device requires activation on a pricing plan offering unlimited data, which includes the Everything Data and Simply Everything Plans.

The Simply Everything plan provides nationwide unlimited calling, unlimited text and unlimited data, including email, social networking, Web browsing, GPS navigation, Sprint TV, streaming music, NFL Mobile Live and NASCAR Sprint Cup Mobile, for only $99.99 per month. That’s a savings of $1,200 over two years vs. a comparable AT&T iPhone^® plan³. Sprint Everything Data plans with unlimited messaging and data start at just $69.99 for 450 minutes with unlimited night and weekend calling starting at 7 p.m. (All price plans exclude surcharges and taxes.)

Both Everything Data and Simply Everything plans are available to existing customers without extending the service agreement. New lines of service require a two-year service agreement.

The Sprint 3G Network is faster in more places than AT&T’s 3G network⁴, and Sprint has more than 20 times the coverage of T-Mobile’s current 3G network⁵, based on square miles. Since 2006, Sprint has invested almost $17 billion in capital to continue improving and expanding network performance.

Sprint is also the first national carrier to test, launch and market 4G technology. Separate from its 3G investment, Sprint has announced plans to extend its 4G leadership by launching the next-generation service in numerous markets in 2009, including the recently launched markets of Atlanta, Las Vegas and Portland, Ore.

Sprint is the only wireless carrier to offer Ready Now service with trained retail associates to work one-on-one with customers to personalize their Samsung Moment, set up features and demonstrate how it works before the customer leaves the store. Customers have the choice of sitting down with a Sprint retail associate at the time of purchase or they can schedule an appointment for a later time at www.sprint.com/storelocator.

You can get all of the details on this one over at the Moment site.  You can preorder a unit there and be the first kid on your block to get one after the November 1 release.  Order will cost you $179.99 (after a $100 mail in rebate and $50 instant savings).  The Moment also requires a two-year contract on Sprint’s Everything Plan.

I am always looking for a new way to organize and maintain my contacts, so I was pretty excited to learn about Orbit from Trillibis, which is coming soon to an iPhone and Blackberry near you.  So far, there are no Windows Mobile, WebOS or other versions, but I have it on pretty good authority that this one should be coming to more platforms before too long.

So…what exactly is Orbit?  I would love to tell you that it is a contact manager, but it is also so much more than that.  It combines all of your contacts from various social networking locations (including Facebook and Twitter) in one place; displays their social network status updates; and, of course, allows you to call or email them.  All from your iPhone or Blackberry.  Keep reading for the full press release.

Trilibis Mobile, an innovative developer of mobile search and social networking applications, today announced Orbit™, the first cross-platform, cross-network, cross-device mobile social phonebook that cleverly organizes all of your communication channels: voice, text, e-mail and social networking.
The application has two unique differentiators that provide users with an enhanced experience. The Inner Orbit feature lets users choose which contacts to follow closely and helps users create additional orbits for each social circle. With its Social Volume control, Orbit empowers users to manage the level of communication received by allowing them to decide how often and how much information they receive from their orbits.
“In today’s hyper-connected world, we utilize several different channels and methods to access e-mail, call colleagues, text our friends, update Facebook and more. The massive amount of information in many different places creates an enormous challenge for users,” said Alex Panelli, CEO of Trilibis Mobile. “We created Orbit – the next evolution of the phonebook – to make it easy to gather, organize and communicate with your contacts and social circles. Orbit delivers a significant improvement of the essential phone book functions plus more: connect via multiple mediums with one touch, receive consolidated social network feeds and manage the flow of social information with the Social Volume control.”

Easy to Set Up, Easy to Use  
Orbit was designed with a simple and fast one-step setup process. With the click of a button Orbit synchronizes with the device’s existing phonebook. The Inner Orbit feature enables users to choose and follow a select group of contacts more closely. They also have the option of creating additional orbits to follow more contacts via Facebook and Twitter as well.
Orbit offers over-the-air updates for a seamless integration of content in real time and users can be assured that the native address book will always remain on their device – so there is never any threat of losing existing contact information stored on the phone.

Summary of Key Features

• Improved Core Controls – Use your Orbit phonebook just like your existing phonebook; make calls, send text messages and e-mails. Orbit includes an enhanced A-to-Z scrolling feature to greatly improve the navigation of contacts on touch screen devices.
• Orbits – Create an “Inner Orbit” for your closest friends. Add additional Orbits such as college friends, colleagues or family members, making it easy and convenient to keep track of everyone’s updates.
• Social Volume – With Orbit’s unique “Social Volume” control, you can control the level of communication from your groups of contacts whether by time of day, day of week, type of feed, birthdays, etc.
• Connected Phonebook – Rest assured! Orbit’s contact information is always updating so you will always be “in the know.” Orbit organizes and consolidates your contacts and auto-generates a favorites list based on the people you communicate with the most.

Orbit is scheduled to be released for iPhone and Blackberry later this year as a free app.  It will be available on the Android platform by early 2010 with other platforms (including feature phones) to follow.  For now, you can check it out at http://www.launchorbit.com/.