Second anniversary of Xploding Boxes

IMG_00000064It has now been two years since Xploding Boxes was originally launched for BlackBerry phones in 2011. The app has grown much since then, and in the past year alone has added an additional 90 levels, as well as adding support for Android, Windows 8, and BlackBerry 10.

About Xploding Boxes

Xploding Boxes is a strategy game for BlackBerry, Nook, Android, and Windows 8, in which the goal of the game is to start a chain reaction that will explode all of the boxes on the screen. Each level gives you a different number of touches, and requires a different strategy to solve. The first 25 levels are free, while the full 360 levels can be accessed by making an in-application payment and requiring no further downloads. This game is available for the BlackBerry PlayBook, most BlackBerry phones running OS 5.0 or higher, BlackBerry 10 phones, the Nook Color and Nook Tablet, most Android phones running OS 2.2 or higher, as well as Windows 8 tablets and laptops.

Links & Information

Android, BlackBerry, Nook, Windows, Xploding Boxes

What non-BlackBerry developers think of BlackBerry 10

Last week I had the opportunity to present on BlackBerry 10 development a local mobile developers group. The members of this group are mainly a mix of iOS and Windows developers, and it was interesting to hear what their thoughts were on BlackBerry 10.

  • The group was genuinely excited about BlackBerry 10. Given that most of the devs in this group focus on other platforms, I was a bit surprised at the optimism that the the group had for this platform. I guess that I am still getting used to how much opinions on BlackBerry have changed over the last six months.
  • Most developers are looking for easy ports. While I personally think that Cascades is the way to go for writing BlackBerry 10 apps, most interest was in writing apps via Android or Phone Gap.
  • The Personal/Work Personas offered by BlackBerry Balance is a big deal. Given that I have personally never connected my phone to a corporate network, I have a tendency to ignore all enterprise news. However, the group had a lot of excitement about this feature.

Update: A week later I remember some more thoughts that people had…

  • Signing up for a dev account is easy. One developer signed up for a developer account while at the meeting, and told me it was easy to do. I knew this had changed since I signed up for an account four years ago, but it is good to see this process become painless.
  • The group was concerned about the approval process. After hearing that apps went through an approval process, most assumed the worse and that apps would be subject to an Apple style process that would reject due to not following UI guidelines. I tried to assure them that the process was rather lenient and that I have never had an app that was rejected.
  • Phone gap devs were already familiar with Ripple. While they said that it was not good enough to replace a true simulator, they liked the tool. BlackBerry should use this opportunity to recruit more HTML5 developers.
BlackBerry10

98.1% of PlayBook users on newest OS version

PlayBookStatsJan2013

PlayBook users have always been quick to upgrade to the newest OS version, and January saw that pattern continue. While most users were already on OS 2.1.0 going into the month, January saw 98.1% of users on the most recent OS version.

This data was collected by BlackBerry World at the time of download, for the popular PlayBook strategy game Pixelated. Data shown on the chart is from the beginning of January 2012 through the end of January 2013.

BlackBerry, PlayBook, Statistics

Hockey Scores app updated with support for BlackBerry 10

IMG_00000096The Hockey Scores app has been updated to version 3.0 in the first update that the app has seen since since 2011. In addition to adding better support for the new season, version 3.0 also adds support for BlackBerry 10 phones with a rewrite of the app in Cascades.

About Hockey Scores

This application provides the day’s hockey scores is an intuitive and easy to use format. It also includes additional game statistics such as start times, goal scorers, shots on net, hits, faceoff percentage, team Corsi numbers, and the goal scorers.

Links & Information

BlackBerry, BlackBerry10, Hockey Scores

No change in the distribution of BBOS

StatsJan2013

While last week saw the launch of BlackBerry 10, the majority of BlackBerry users are still on the classic BlackBerry operating system. The distribution of operating system versions is almost completely unchanged from where it was in December. With users of higher end devices more likely to able to afford to upgrade to BlackBerry 10 there is even the possibility that the percentage of users on OS 6 and 7 may actually even go down in the coming months.

This data was taken from downloads of the free BlackBerry strategy game Pixelated. Data shown on the chart is from the beginning of January 2012 through the end of January 2013.

BlackBerry, Statistics

Stuff I Need app released for BlackBerry 10

IMG_00000093The Stuff I Need is a free app that has been released for BlackBerry 10. This minimalist app allows you to either list the stuff that you need to buy, or the stuff that you need to do.

This app was originally designed as a grocery list app, but is flexible enough to be used for any purpose. Existing items can be edited or deleted by giving them a long press.

BlackBerry, BlackBerry10, Stuff I Need

Ebscer BB10 Apps

IMG_00000108With BlackBerry 10 going on sale this morning in the UK, there are currently 12 Ebscer apps available in the BlackBerry World store, and an additional two apps awaiting approval. The full list of Ebscer apps can be found at ebscer.com/blackberry10, and includes games like Pixelated, Liar’s Dice, and Xploding Boxes. Also included in the store are some apps exclusive to BlackBerry 10, such as Mileage Tracker, and Stuff I Need.

Check out all Ebscer apps at BlackBerry World.

BB World_Get It_BLK Box

BlackBerry, BlackBerry10

Expectations for tomorrow’s launch

RIM has insisted that they will still have some surprises to announce tomorrow when they launch BlackBerry10. While we already (unofficially) know all about some unannounced features such as BBM Video and BlackBerry Voice, I am hoping that RIM still has a few surprises up their sleeves.

I spoke about this some on video with with Michael Li, but I think that RIM may still have a bit to announce in terms of cloud services. The set up that RIM is already using for the print-to-go app on PlayBook, implies that most of the infrastructure and technology is already set up and tested for BlackBerry to create a very integrated device to desktop connection. I am hoping that the upcoming BlackBerry Link app is more cloud based, than just a re-skinning of BlackBerry Desktop Manager.

BlackBerry also has some opportunities with their Scoreloop acquisition. The existing ‘Games’ app on the DevAlpha implies that there will be a significant advantage to games that integrate with this service. The recently released update to Pixelated includes Scoreloop leaderboards for this very reason.

With pretty much all services on the device now tied into BlackBerryID, there should be plenty of opportunity to use that for device storage similar to how Windows 8 uses the Windows.Storage.ApplicationData.Current.RoamingSettings objects in order to link app settings across different devices.

Away from cloud storage, BlackBerry has a real opportunity in their ability to support DLNA. With this they can offer features that make Apple TV (and the Nexus Q) irrelevant. The only downside is to battery life. In a year or two this approach could also threaten the need for an Xbox of PlayStation.

Also I really hope that BlackBerry announces something that finally makes NFC useful. It is cool technology, but in the past 18 months of having NFC on my phone, I have not had a real reason to use it.

BlackBerry10

BlackBerry 10 delayed until 10:00 am

Industry analysts who had been expecting to see BlackBerry 10 launched on January 30th at 9:00am have been disappointed as RIM has delayed the launch of their new phones till ten o’clock. Initial reaction on the stock market was muted, but many have warned that “the true fallout from this announcement has yet to be seen”.

bbBlackBerry maker RIM (RIMM) has been working on their new BlackBerry 10 operating system (their first with a touch screen) in order to compete with Apple’s iPhone, and Samsung’s Galaxy S III phone. While many have thought that RIM should follow HP and Dell’s move into the Enterprise tech industry, the company under CEO Thorsten Heins seems to still be committed to releasing phones.

Still most analysts see this delay as devastating to the BlackBerry maker. “This gives Microsoft additional time to claim their place as the number three smartphone maker” noted one watcher of the stock. “There is no way of knowing how many CIO’s will give up on the platform during this lost hour.”

Others warned that BlackBerry 10, may still see more delays. “For all we know, once everyone arrives for the press conference, they may not actually take to the stage until five minutes after the hour”.

BlackBerry, BlackBerry10

Pixelated updated to version 3.3

IMG_00000080Pixelated has been updated to version 3.3 across all platforms. Notably, this update adds support for BlackBerry 10 which is being launched on Wednesday.

New in version 3.3

A new colour scheme option has been added to Pixelated Plus for all platforms. The PlayBook version of the app has had a visual update to give it a look more in line with the Windows 8 version. The game has also gotten a thicker highlight colour for the selector on non-touchscreen versions of the game on BlackBerry Phones. The new BB10 version of the game includes a leader board that is powered by Scoreloop for both the free and paid versions of the game. This update also includes a number of bug fixes.

About Pixelated

IMG_00000083Pixelated is an addictive puzzle based strategy game that requires a mixture of skill and luck in order to accomplish. The object of the game is to change the colour of the squares until the entire screen is a single solid colour. Starting with the square in the upper left corner you can change the colour of the blocks in order to match that of the surrounding squares. This is done repeatedly until the entire screen is a single colour. The object of the game is to clear the screen in as few moves as possible. Under the default settings you must do so in under 22 moves in order to win. The game is controlled by the large colored blocks on the side of the screen.

Links & Information

BlackBerry, BlackBerry10, Nook, Pixelated, PlayBook, Windows

The new ebscer.com

IMG_00000104My website has never really been that good. I picked up the domain name, more for the email address than for the site itself. While I have tried (half heartedly) to fill the site with some content, it has never really been a real priority. With the launch of BlackBerry 10 right around the corner, I figured it was time to redesign the my site.

The site redesign was done with an emphasis on it looking good on mobile (which given my business, is probably something I should have done years ago). The site’s design ques are taken from a mix of BlackBerry 10 and Windows 8, in order to give the site a modern (and mobile) feel.

xb2
The new site has a simple page dedicated to each of my apps (see ebscer.com/pixelated or ebscer.com/xplodingboxes) and also pages dedicated for each operating system (see ebscer.com/blackberry10 or ebscer.com/nook).

Hopefully in this format the website will be easier to maintain, and will be more useful to everyone else.

BlackBerry

Impact of the port-a-thons

IMG_00000071Over the past few weekends BlackBerry has hosted some port-a-thon events in which they offered $100 for every BlackBerry 10 app submitted to BlackBerry World. I placed quite a few apps into the store during these weekends, but for the most part they were apps that I would have been working on anyhow, and mostly apps that I had already had up and running on the old BlackBerry OS. To be fair, developers such as myself were not the primary target for the event, but it did encourage me to create three more apps for the launch of BlackBerry 10 than I otherwise would have.

Animal Sounds app

The animal sounds app was mainly done as a challenge to see if I could complete an app in under 24 hours. The port-a-thon was mostly just an excuse to jump in and do so. It also provided a revenue model for the app. I knew going in that the app would not be good enough, that I could charge for it, and placing advertisements in apps aimed at kids has always struck me as being a bit sketchy. One hundred dollars easily was enough to cover the minimal effort that this app took.

Ebscer blog app

IMG_00000095I also took the time to turn this blog into an app using the BlackBerry App Generator. In many ways this was just an excuse to try out the tool. Given that there is no way to actually test these apps on device before submitting them to AppWorld, I am still not sure what I am going to do with this app. Depending on how this app turns out, I may remove this one from the store.

Stuff I Need

Given the lack of a good simple grocery list app, it was probably inevitable that was going to write the Stuff I Need app sooner or later. Still the port-a-thon gave me a reason to jump in and write this about a month earlier than I otherwise would have. While this is not a huge app, it is one that I expect to find useful.

Animal Sounds, BlackBerry10, Stuff I Need

Morse Code app expands support to BlackBerry 10

IMG_00000065The Morse Code app in BlackBerry AppWorld has been updated to version 2.0, adding support for BlackBerry 10 phones. The number of supported devices has also increased for phones running the traditional BlackBerry operating system, with all phones running OS 5.0 or newer, being supported.

About Morse Code

This app will take your text, and translate it back to you in Morse Code. Any text can simply be entered, and then by pressing the “Play Morse Code” button, can be turned into an audible Morse Code signal. The application also allows you to adjust the speed of the playback in words per minute in order to accommodate different skill levels.

Links & Information

BlackBerry, BlackBerry10, Morse Code