Mileage Tracker version 1.0 released

IMG_00000038Version 1.0 of Mileage Tracker has been released into AppWorld for BlackBerry 10 phones. This free app is designed to help you track the miles you drive on each trip for use on tax deductions, accounting, or reimbursements from your employer. Instead of keeping this information charted on your computer, it makes much more sense to be able to track this mobiley from your phone, which you would have with you in the car anyhow.

In order to start a new entry select the ‘Add’ option on the bottom of the screen. For each trip, you must include a reason, a date, and the starting odometer reading. Selecting an existing entry gives you the option to edit any of these fields or to even delete the listing all together. This app allows you to create different categories, so that you can have separate lists for different billing periods, each vehicle, or on a per project basis. You are in fact free to organize your data any way you wish. Categories can be renamed from the menu, and giving two categories the same name will automatically merge them.

MenuFollowing a one time in-app payment you can export your data into an excel compatible .csv format and a pretty (and sortable) .html format. Using data from my own trips in 2012 I have created a sample of what the exported files look like for both html and .csv.

Links & Information

BlackBerry, BlackBerry10, Mileage Tracker

15,000 apps

During last weekend’s virtual port-a-thon 15,000 BlackBerry 10 apps were submitted to BlackBerry AppWorld.

First lets acknowledge that most of these apps are probably junk. This event was clearly about quantity over quality, and the event delivered on the big round numbers. In all likelihood the majority of these apps were repackaged html sites, or quickly ported Android apps. The good news is that I am sure that some people will find some of these quickly ported apps very useful, and that the mix is probably not any worse than a random selection of 15,000 apps from Apple’s App Store would be.

The good news is that fifteen thousand is a very impressive, very big number. To give some context, BlackBerry AppWorld was originally launched in 2009 with less than 2,000 apps. It wasn’t until at least two years later that the total size of the store grew to 15,000 applications. Windows 8 (which launched three months ago) is currently showing only 19,337 apps available in my region, and there is no doubt that BlackBerry 10 has long since blown by that number.

I really hope that RIM has a plan to get all of these apps through the approval process in a timely manner. I will be submitting some more apps later this week, that I would really like to have in the store by the time that BlackBerry 10 phones are on the shelves. The fact that 15,000 apps just got placed ahead of them in the queue is slightly worrying.

BlackBerry10

24 hour app challenge

From now until midnight tomorrow, BlackBerry is offering $100 for every BlackBerry 10 app that is submitted to AppWorld. Currently I am on track to have nine applications available in AppWorld at launch. Given that it would be much cooler to have 10 apps for BlackBerry 10, and that I can get a bonus if I finish an app by tomorrow, I have decided to challenge myself to completing a new app within the next 24 hours.

I have an idea for a free app that should be fairly simple, but I have not yet started on it at all. And while this idea will require a bit too much time editing images (and audio), I think I should be able to get it completed by this time tomorrow. I will post an overview of this app making experience early next week.

Animal Sounds, BlackBerry, BlackBerry10

A 27″ tablet is not as stupid as it sounds

At CES Lenovo has announced that they are planning on launching a 27 inch, 17 pound Windows 8 tablet this summer. At first glance this seems ridiculous, and the product has already received it’s fair share of mockery. But the truth is that it really isn’t that terrible of an idea, at least once you stop thinking of it as a tablet.

The image to the right is from Lenovo’s promo video, and shows how incredibly awkward it would be to carry it around like a traditional tablet. And while I can fit my PlayBook into my pocket, this beast would not even fit into a backpack, and is truly not ‘mobile’ in any sense of the word.

But it doesn’t have to be.

If you consider it less as a tablet, and more as a nice 27″ all-in-one desktop PC that happens to have a touchscreen, then it is actually pretty nice. The Verge recently wrote about how touch screens can be useful on non-tablets, and I think we can eventually expect all screens to support touch. While the $1,700 that Lenovo is asking for is a bit much, prices will come down. In a few years, it probably will not be possible to buy a monitor that doesn’t support touch input.

Windows

Where are PlayBook users from?

The PlayBook is seeing a much more diverse installation base then when I looked at it last year. While the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom combine for 71.6% of users, another six countries held claim to over one percent of the instal base, and downloads were seen from 142 different nations.

PlayBookDownloadsByCountry

The PlayBook continues to have an outsized popularity in RIM’s homeland of Canada, accounting for 37.8% of users. The PlayBook also showed surprising popularity in India and the Philippines, which both saw a higher share of PlayBook users than traditional BlackBerry hubs such as Indonesia.

The vast majority (83.93%) of these users have English as their primary language. The next most popular languages were Spanish, French and German.

PlayBookUsersByLanguage

96.5% of PlayBook users are running OS 2.1.0, and well over 99% of users are running some version OS 2.x on their devices. For more details see yesterday’s post on BerryReview.

These statistics are generated from PlayBook downloads of the strategy game Xploding Boxes, from September 1st, through December 31st. Data was collected by BlackBerry AppWorld at the time of download.

BlackBerry, PlayBook, Statistics

Version 4.2 of Xploding Boxes

Xploding Boxes has been updated to version 4.2 across all platforms. This version adds ten new levels as well as adding sharing options to the Windows 8 and BlackBerry 10 versions of the game.

About Xploding Boxes

Xploding Boxes is a strategy game for BlackBerry, Android, Nook, Windows 8, and BlackBerry 10 where 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 game itself, and the first 25 levels are available for free, while an in-app purchase can be used to access the rest of the levels for just $2.99 while maintaining your progress from the free levels.

New in Version 4.2

IMG_00000063In addition to the ten new levels, version 4.2 of Xploding Boxes adds some sharing options and fixes some bugs. While the BlackBerry version of the game has included BBM sharing options since version 2.1 this update allows Windows 8 users to easily share their in-game progress through the share charm, and BlackBerry 10 users can share their game progress through an option on the menu.

The BlackBerry 10 version of the game also has a redesigned icon set.

Links & Information

Android, BlackBerry, BlackBerry10, Nook, Windows, Xploding Boxes

Microsoft’s Windows 8 problem

Like most geeks, I spent my Christmas fixing my parent’s computer. Replacing the hard drive was easy, choosing what OS to instal onto the machine was not. My Dad wanted the Windows 8, just so he wouldn’t get left behind, while my Mom wanted nothing to change (although reinstalling Vista was never my plan).

In the end I decided to give them Windows 7. While I have a Windows 8 Tablet, and use both Win7 and Win8 on my laptop, my day to day desktop is still Windows 7. While Windows 8 is a huge improvement on tablets (at least when you don’t have the desktop open), there is no need for then Windows 8 start menu on a standard PC.

As a developer I love Windows 8. It is easy to develop for, and even more importantly it is easy to distribute and sell my apps on. However, most traditional PC users have little need for Microsoft’s app store, and are not looking for the apps I am selling. My true market is not Windows 8 users, but Windows 8 users with touchscreens.

This is a much smaller market.

For those looking to use their Windows 8 device as a tablet, and use it in a similar manner as you would a PlayBook or an iPad, the Windows Store is the perfect place to look for apps, but for everyone else I can expect my apps to be ignored anyhow. The number of Windows 8 licenses sold should not matter to developers, unless they are for a touch screen device.

Windows

2012 in review

I wrote up a post like this last year, so I figured I would give 2012 a review…

Lets hope that 2013 is just as exciting…

BlackBerry

Runaway Trains expands to 170 levels

Runaway Trains has recently been updated to version 2.3 across all platforms. The new version of the game adds 10 new levels, and also adds the use of active frames on BlackBerry 10.

Level163

About Runaway Trains

Runaway Trains is a colorful strategy game for all ages where you must route the trains to the proper station. Each level progresses in difficulty and presents an unique puzzle which you must solve by finding a way to guide the coloured trains causing a collision or running out of track.

This is done by touching the intersections to toggle the open path of the tracks. If at any time the trains crash or end up at the wrong station, you will have lost and have to try again.

Links & Information

Android app on Google Play
Android, BlackBerry, BlackBerry10, Nook, Runaway Trains

Liar’s Dice released for BlackBerry 10

IMG_00000054Liar’s Dice has been released in AppWorld for BlackBerry 10. Like the recent update to 10,000 Farkle, the game has been completely rewritten, but anyone who has purchased Liar’s Dice on their current BlackBerrys will be able to download the new BlackBerry 10 version of the game for free through AppWorld.

About Liar’s Dice

This is a classic dice game of strategy and deception in which seeing only your own dice you must bet on the combined dice in play without getting caught in a lie.

IMG_00000050The object of the game is to catch your opponent (the computer) betting too high. Bets are placed on both your own dice which you can see, and your opponent’s dice which are hidden from you. You begin each round by making a bet. The computer then has an opportunity to either call your bet a lie, or to bet higher then you. Then it is once again your turn to call your opponent’s bet or to bet even higher. This continues until eventually a bet is called. Then if the bet is too high the caller wins, or if the bet is not a lie, the bettor wins the round.

The game has two main game modes. The “High Score” mode is the default mode, points are awarded for each round, and the first to gain a given number of points wins. The number of points required to win a game can be configured on the options page in order to allow for shorter or longer games.

The other option is for an “Elimination” mode in which the loser of each round loses one dice for the following rounds, and the last player with any dice left is the winner. This game is more dynamic as there are a different number of dice in play each round. Additionally games in this mode typically play faster than high score games.

Links & Information

BlackBerry, BlackBerry10, Liar's Dice

Simple Dice now on BlackBerry 10

IMG_00000048With the release of version 2.0 Simple Dice is now available for BlackBerry 10 devices. This free app is exactly what it sounds like, just a virtual die that you can roll to get a random number between one and six.

The app can also be downloaded from BlackBerry AppWorld for older touchscreen BlackBerry phones. These versions have also been updated, now giving the option of removing the ads from the application through the use of a $1 in-app purchase.

Links & Information

BlackBerry, BlackBerry10, Simple Dice