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T-Mobile To Open App Store For All of Their Phones
tsa brings news that T-Mobile will be developing their own application store to compete with Apple's popular distribution scheme. Their aim is to be capable of bringing new services to all of their customers. Excerpting:
"Developers will submit their applications online; the revenue-share agreement will be based on how much the application uses the network; and the applications will be presented to the user in order of popularity, not according to T-Mobile's preferences. It's all pretty straightforward, but the more interesting aspect is that this will apply to all the carrier's platforms from upcoming Android to Java to Sidekick and Windows Mobile."
Developing for the iPhone is easy. There is only one platform.
But Windows Mobile, Android, and Java are three completely different platforms. That's not to mention platforms based on Brew or Symbian, even. Developing for an individual phone is easy, but to reach the entire market, it's very difficult.
I suppose if you aren't interested in reaching many users, that developing for a single platform like the iPhone is a decent choice. However, if you want to remain viable both in terms of independence and also monetarily, you need to have a broad base of users, not just a small group of fanatics.
Unfortunately, because of the disparity among the various platforms, the difficulty is high to develop a broadly applicable application. So the answer is to target either the least common denominator (there is none in the current phone market) or to target a generic platform that is relatively widely installed.
Welcome to MIDP. Yes, you'll hate every minute of it, but at least it exists.
Will it be in a free data zone?
I am in full development for the "I am even richer than those Apple noobs"-application, which can be bought for just $1000.
When you shoot a mime, do you use a silencer?
So, if I write an app the sucks up a lot of bandwidth and airtime and as a result T-Mobile gets to bill the customer for a lot more money, I make more money?
So what's the current perception of Android? The system of the future, or another Linux -- useful and powerful in its niche, but not the dominant platform?
Ooh, a sarcasm detector. Oh, that's a real useful invention.
So I wonder what Nokia will have to offer in the way of an App Store in a couple of months when I plan to replace my N90 with an N96. Ideally, I'd like to be able to download stuff from http://maemo.org/, just like for my N800.
But, no, that would be dreaming.
Schroedinger's Brexit: The UK is both in and out of the EU at the same time!
Cruder (mostly web based) implementations of the iPhones "App Store" already exist with other operators.
I know that Vodafone, for example, distribute an application on their branded S60 Nokia phones that links to a small portal site, where you can read news and buy access to premium content, including TV shows and games.
The application is a small web based one and doesn't have feature the "App Store" has such as the ability to track updates for applications nor does it recognize if you've already made a purchase. I don't recall seeing any significant free applications on their either, almost all the applications were games from major publishers (e.g. branded as EA or Sega titles) and most were consistently priced.
For me, a major strength of the App Store is that it has a wide range of applications at a range of price points and from a range of developers - I think that's what attracts so many people to it.
I think mobile operators will struggle to understand the importance of having a wide range of applications (including free ones) and they will continue to take a short sighted view of focusing on doing business with major publishers like EA at the expense of independent developers - pushing to the market what they mistakenly think people want - ultimately to their own detriment.
So far, I've spent about 25 GBP on the App Store since July I've bought a couple of apps at about 5 GBP, one at about 10 GBP and a few at between 50p to 1.50 GBP. I'm sure I will buy more. I've been with Vodafone for about 8 years, and in that time only bought two applications from them (both games, at around 2.50-4.50 each I think).
I don't think mobile operators understand the importance of good software enough to replicate the success of the App Store on other devices. If good software was important to them there wouldn't have been a gap big enough for Apple to exploit in the first place.
If I develop an app for WinMo I can sell it to anyone with a WinMo phone and keep ALL the money. Unless T-Mobile is going start locking their phones from outside apps ala iPhone, why would I want to just give T-Mobile some of my money?
The Sidekick platform has had it's own proprietary app store with this type of revenue sharing scheme for quite a few years now, possibly since the platform was released.
By now you should have guessed...I'm your magic negro.
Be a middleman.
Stop the fighting dammit! This is a war room! Zieg T-Mobile!
Android is in trouble wrt to fulfilling the hope of an 'open' platform. So far:
-We still know next to nothing about the current state of their development situation. The M5 SDK released all the way back in March is the latest hard technical resource people have without an NDA. Meanwhile, Google is refreshing the SDK for the cherry-picked few (http://groups.google.com/group/android-developers/browse_thread/thread/f031c33fe9e5b992).
For a platform trying to leverage a large development community, they sure are making it hard for those people.
-The bits we do have come without platform source. There seems to be a good chance Google might keep their middleware closed-source. Otherwise, why be so secretive about it even today?
So far we've seen promise of being open falling through to date, we've seen the supposed source of strength of android (the community), hamstringed by Google's own actions. I've seen promises of 'once the phone is on the market, we'll make good!', but I fail to see why they can't allow the SDK to be in public hands because of that excuse.
Then we have LiMo, which so far looks not to be user-centered, and more cell-phone manufacturer centered, so I'd not expect that to change the world significantly.
The *only* platform that so far in spirit lives up to those promises is OpenMoko. Unfortunately, the 'best' platform for it (FreeRunner) is a tad underpowered technically.
XML is like violence. If it doesn't solve the problem, use more.
Haven't the cell providers already been trying to sell extra apps for years? Mostly games. How many un-erase-able demos are on your cell phone?
Apple has opened the floodgates in yet another market. Delivering to customers what they actually want, instead of what some misguided "marketing" department would prefer to force down their throats.
Nokia started a weird campaign promoting its "Download!" making even die-hard Symbian blogs mad. Why? Because it is not really timely co-ordinated campaign and we (Nokia users) still see 10-15 never updated, never changed stuff in "Download!" menu in our phones.
Check news about it: http://www.allaboutsymbian.com/news/item/7743_Secret_really_is_a_secret.php
Nokia sits there, look for some great open source/free applications shipped for Symbian, doesn't freely sign them or cover their signing costs, donate to authors, help them, at least put the s60.com apps to the menu.
All they do is some good graphics wallpaper and application. Yea, race with Apple this way... They don't even put "Opera" and "Fring" to "Internet" category, 2 apps which will never ship for Apple iPhone (with this SDK/EULA) for God's sake.
"the revenue-share agreement will be based on how much the application uses the network" So... the more popular my app, the more $ t-mobile keeps? how the hell is that fair when t-mobile customers are (probably) paying per byte already?
Planning on making my own "I am Rich" app with plans for additional releases ... "I am Very Rich", and only for the elite ... "I am Extremely Rich".
Pricing will follow an exponential scale.
May also open source a scaled down "I am poor" version.
If I develop an app for WinMo I can sell it to anyone with a WinMo phone and keep ALL the money.
But surprisingly, the entry barrier appears to be slightly higher with Windows Mobile software than with iPhone software. In addition to the roughly $400 handheld device (Pocket PC or iPod Touch), you have to buy a compatible computer and a copy of the development software. For Windows, this is a $600 Windows PC incl. keyboard, mouse, and monitor, and a $1,000 copy of Visual Studio (not the Express version, which doesn't target Windows Mobile). For iPhone, this is a $1,100 iMac and a $100 SDK activation for your device.
You seem to have a different definition of "many" than I do. iPhone adoption has been huge so far, and not just "a small group of fanatics."
As the Washington Post article mentions, Steve Jobs' stated goal for Apple is 10 million iPhones in 2008. A rather modest goal for an industry that pushes more than a billion units a year. For the first half of the year, Apple has only sold 2.4 million iPhones.
Of course, the spin in this article doesn't stop with iPhone "popularity"... The article is also spinning this as a competition between T-Mobile and Apple. There is no competition. You cannot choose T-mobile's app store over Apple's on your iPhone. Likewise, you cannot shop at Apple's store on a T-Mobile phone. Apple's store is irrelevant to T-Mobile's ambitions. Apple exists in its own little walled garden.
Furthermore, it sounds as if T-Mobile is competing with Nokia's Download Store which, BTW, predates Apple's app store... and iPhone for that matter. Why wasn't the actual competition mentioned? That's where the meat is in this news... Will Nokia be blocked by T-Mobile on their locked handsets? Will the T-Mobile store offer a better deal to S60 developers? Will Nokia withhold signed apps from T-Mobile or fast track the signing process for Nokia Download Store developers?
Nope, no real news in this article. It's just fanboy infotisement. How did it even make front page? News for nerds indeed...
No kidding.
DISCLAIMER: I am an Apple user and iPhone owner.
blog
I'm making the first "I'm Middle-Class" app. It'll have a picture of an iPhone with a picture of a ruby on it and will sell for $9.99. After 100 purchases, I'll finally be able to buy that coveted "I Am Rich" app!
T mobile blocks Java apps from being able to access the network. Programs like Opera do not work on many of the phones they sell.
http://my.opera.com/community/forums/topic.dml?id=244612
and
http://my.opera.com/community/forums/topic.dml?id=243169
And no it cant be changed via the setting as T-mobile has that locked out also....
Gee thanks tmobile nice sales job,
Buy something that does not work because that phone company disables the functionality
Hi, I'm quite an happy T-Mobile customer from the Netherlands and I guess that might be the difference here. Still; when I point my Samsung Soul to goto T-Zones (the T-Mobile internet "zone") I have several options to get ringtones, games and such. Just look at the website: "Wat is het? t-zones: dat is sport, muziek, games, nieuws, weer en files op jouw mobiel". So: "What is it? t-zones: that is sport, music, games, news, weather and files on your mobile (phone)".
So in that aspect I agree; nothing new to see here.
Yes, but will it be 'open'? Will I be able to use the SDK for their platform to create free apps and distribute them however I like, or will I be forced to use their store, just like Apple's offering?
I'm only interested in programming for a platform that I can distribute for as I see fit.
As for the 'how much it uses the internet' bit... Cripes, don't the customers already pay for that? Taking money from the developer AND the consumer is just... Wrong. I could understand it if they offered decently priced 'unlimited' internet, but they don't. The closest is the 'web only' for like $6.
"If you make people think they're thinking, they'll love you; But if you really make them think, they'll hate you." - DM
You mock, but have you checked out the operator run "App Store" equivalents?
They consist of primarily rubbish mobile versions of established titles by EA - who even managed to screw up something as simple as Tetris royally with numerous bugs - and direct ports of old 16 bit games that are totally unsuited to being played on most phones.
If you want non-lowest-common-denominator software like Opera or a VoIP app you'll usually have to download that yourself on you computer - unlike with Apple they are not interested in distributing applications that don't have an upfront cost they can take a cut of and in dealing with major publishers who they can form "strategic partnerships".
There is nothing to stop Opera, P2P software or a VoIP app being written for the iPhone, in fact IIRC Apple have confirmed the latter as being in the works - although the chances of a VoIP app that works over 3G as well as WiFi appearing on the App Store are not much above nill I would imagine.
Having used VoIP over 3G with iChat and Gizmo, with a Nokia E60/E61i* and N95 on Vodafone 3G, it's not something I'd even be interested in, the sound quality really was awful and the delay was significant (as bad as with a portable sat phone).
My 3G modem (on Three) is alright for VoIP, even for a camera, if I'm in an area with good reception, but that that's with the laptop doing the encoding and decoding, and the 3G modem gets better reception than my phone (not least because I'm not covering it with my hands while I'm using it).
I haven't had a Pocket PC in a while, so I don't know what Skype is like over 3G on a Windows Mobile Smartphone. I'd be interested in hearing what the call quality is like from someone who has tried that. I am curious if part of the problem on the Nokia is the performance of the encoding/decoding being limited by the hardware.
* Can't remember which one I was using at the time.