Usually, when you don’t write for a long time, it’s either because you didn’t have what to write about, or because you’ve been very busy. In my case it’s the latter.

I wanted to update you all about the exciting news we got a few days ago from Apple, and that is our first iOS app being accepted. You can read more about it at www.yocli.com.

This is a 30 seconds video we spent several hours to build.

1. The biggest achievement must be that we’ve got our first big client, as a direct result of launching Vuzum’s website. We hope we get to be discovered by many more people once we’ll be out of beta. We’ve come a long way since 2008.
2. In less than a week I’ll be flying and moving to Spain, A Coruna. We’re opening our first international office, hoping to be closer to our customers from that part of Europe. It’s going to be a new experience for me, so wish me luck on that! It’s going to be a new experience for our team as well, as we’ve been used to work in the same office. :)
3. I spent the entire month of January learning Objective-C and I’ve got my BS in Computer science on my first iOS app. That’s two shots in one take. We slowly but surely focus our attention on iOS and Android. Mobile is one of the big plans we have in 2011.
4. We started work on our newest R&D project, Eclipo. It’s a small start-up that will help us track our clients, projects and payments. Once we consider it to be ready for public, we’ll make it available to everyone as well.
5. In less than a week Flabell will turn 2 years, and we’ve already passed the revenues generated in it’s first year of existence, in the last two months of 2011. :-) We’ve got big plans with both Flabell and Themesbell, but I don’t want to spoil the surprise. It’s good to see Flash has great momentum, despite Apple’s rant.
6. We’ve got an excellent team at Vuzum, as well as new faces. Great guys, well equiped. On that note, it’s a strange feeling to have no Windows base stations as working computers. We use MACs and Linux only. I’m wondering what’s your configuration. It seems Windows is not reliable anymore as an operating system that stays out of your way.
7. I’m planning to purchase the iPad 2, especially if it will have support for Flash!  What do you think? Wouldn’t that be a blast?! :)

STEP 1 – research

ManyFriends – read every word on this wiki. You will make an idea about the mobile business, from an iOS developer point of view, and get to some very useful links as well. I went through hundreds of blogs. Here you will get information you won’t find anywhere else. I highly recommend you start with it first (he even mentions what he charges and how he charges).

STEP 2 – get familiar with the syntax

The syntax is different, but in my opinion it’s better than AS3. You will understand what’s better after you read these articles entirely. The bad thing is that although Objective-C 2 has garbage collection, it’s not YET supported in the iPhone SDK. This means us, the developers, have to handle all the memory stuff.

1. Learn Objective-C

2. Naming (part 1) (check part 2 as well)

STEP 3 – start (blogs & forums)

Articles and tutorials: http://mobile.tutsplus.com/

Forums to subscribe to:

• http://www.iphonedevforums.com/forum/
• http://www.iphonedevsdk.com/forum/
• http://forums.macrumors.com/forumdisplay.php?f=135
• http://groups.google.com/group/iphonesb?pli=1

STEP 4 – a complete guide

This book gets you from A to Z with the technology and modules available on iOS today, you should buy it and read it! (I’m at page 296 at the moment of writing this article)

Beginning iPhone 3 Development Exploring the iPhone SDK (Jul.2009)

STEP 5 – practice

Download and watch the free Stanford classes for programming for iPhone on iTunes:
a) iPhone Application Programming (Spring 2009)

b) iPhone Application Development (Winter 2010)

c) Developing Apps for iOS (HD)

(the last link is to dig deeper)

STEP 6 - dig deeper

Apple’s website (everything but the iOS Reference Library, which is too much information to go over – only use it as you code)

Make sure you start with the HIG!

STEP 7

Write your first basic app.

I’ve basically set myself the goal to focus on nothing (almost nothing) else than learning iOS, building the first App (for iPhone) and presenting it to the CS University, as part of the final exam in a month. (you basically get to do a project you can pick, as long as it’s related to software)

Vuzum is amazing but it took almost all of my time, so for January I’m kind of part-time. I’ll answer my emails, but please be concise and expect a delay in my response time.

Other than that everything is great! We have a lot lined up for 2011! :-)

Among the other things they announced, I’m also excited about FaceTime, as this will definitely bring a productivity boost among us, MAC users doing web work. (Skype must be worried)

I want to focus my attention to the App Store for the MAC here, as I think this will change the way we purchase and use software on our computers. I hope the following things will happen:

1. Software will be priced under 10$.
2. Piracy will disappear.
3. The sales volume will grow exponentially, allowing indie developers to reach millions of users (and be rewarded for the hard work they put into the product)

The obvious advantage of using Apple’s distribution channel, as with the iOS, will be the fact that developers won’t have to heavily invest in marketing, and will be able to focus on features and support instead. Apple will do the connection between these companies and their customers by integrating the App Store directly in their new OS – Lion, as a new app.

I hope Apple will again change the way we buy and consume media, this time with software. I look forward to these exciting times!

Apple

Apple is using Xcode, and they have the best tools and the best devices out there. The programming language is Objective C. There are some alternative tools out there, such as Titanium, but I wouldn’t spend time into looking more in depth, as Apple can always exclude these guys, as they did with Flash.

You can only use a MAC for developing for the iPhone and the iPad.

Microsoft

They use .Net and Silverlight. You can write the code in C#. You can only use a PC.

Google

For Android, Google is using Eclipse and a plugin. The language is Java. They are the most open, if I may say so. The development can be done on both platforms – MAC and PC.

All the platforms have an SDK which you need to download. It’s free. In order to publish the apps you’ll need to join a Developer Program (not free). If you do some research, you will get plenty of information on each platform, so I’ll leave it here.

We’re slowly planning on getting into this wagon here at Vuzum, but out of the many OSes, we’ll only focus on the top two (based on this poll, and instinct). It’s something I personally been interested in since the iPhone’s SDK was announced, and hopefully I’ll have enough time (at night) to learn.

I’ll keep you posted as time goes by. I’m happy enough I waited though, as there’s so much resources on the web today, compared to only a year ago!

I’m somewhat in the middle of all this, because I use and love Apple’s products, but at the same time Flash has been the software who helped me purchase these devices. I can’t take any sides, because I really love both companies. But I kind of understand Apple’s move, and it’s logical for them to proceed this way, as it is for Adobe to protect their software’s future.

My take on the recent Apple TOS changes, and the fight between Apple and Adobe over the past several months, is that Flash is not meant to work with multitouch devices. Being a Flash developer and using an iPhone, I can see how the Hover and MouseOver actions would interfere with the way the GUI is meant to work on a multitouch device.

Apple should not be obligated in any way to build a special functionality in their devices, for a (very popular) browser plugin to function as it does on the desktop. Such interactivity is only possible with the cursor, and the multitouch devices such as the iPad/iPhone/iPod touch, should only resume to displaying content that doesn’t require Hover or MouseOver. With each release of their iPhone OS, Apple can focus on improving their software without having to worry much that they will break the way Flash works on their mobile platform.

On the other hand, I don’t agree with the statement that Flash is dying either. There are many uses for Flash, that simply can’t be built with any other software. And the web is meant to be interactive.

Similar story, but different players

What happens today, is very similar to what happened with the Floppy disk in the past. The Floppy disk was dead because the time for Memory Sticks arrived, which did a much better job, and were portable as well. But the big difference is that if Flash is the Floppy disk, at the moment there is no Memory Stick to replace it.

I believe there’s no easy solution for this. We are in a situation where content should follow form. We have to build content targeted at either the desktop, or multitouch devices, or both at the same time. Otherwise innovation, such as Apple tries to do will never happen, or on the other hand, true interactivity such as what Flash offers, won’t ever be possible on the web.

It’s going to help people do one thing: a sum.

Why it matters? Well, it’s going to answer one simple question: “How much did the X cost you?”  or “How many times did you do Y?”.

You’ll be able to create different projects, and every time you spend something for that one project, you’ll add your expense to it. Or you’ll simply increment it.

The idea

The idea came when I was looking for an easier way for keeping track of how much I spend for building our home.

It would have been useful to Vuzum co-founder when he married, as I asked him how much he paid for everything, and he didn’t knew exactly either.

It would help people know how much they spent in a trip, or for any other project that takes more than one expense to have it completed.

Add to all this a nice statistics extension, and you’ve got yourself a pretty nifty app! :)

Progress

I didn’t do much except register the domain and the Twitter account. So ..the website is this, and the Twitter account is this. (nothing to see yet)

P.S. : It could also help a guy keep the track of.. you know what. (the number of beers he drinks in a weekend) :-)

Before you get started, let me tell you that I still love this amazing company, from the bottom of my pockets and heart. :-)

My short list

1. Newspapers + Digital Magazines innovative distribution - I was really hoping to see some amazing software innovations, which would lead to newspapers and magazines to be changed forever.I thought every magazine would be available through this amazing store, and we could pay a subscription fee and get the one we want. It hasn’t happened.. yet. I guess this leads to separate apps for every magazine and newspaper that doesn’t want to loose this train.
2. eReader (Apple’s Kindle) - not only did they do that, but they also came up with the iBooks store, which will blow away competition. Kindle is dead, but it doesn’t know it yet.
3. Graphic Tablet (Apple’s Wacom Tablet) – with all the amazing capabilities of the iPad, this should have been included. An electronic pen too!
4. Multitasking – it was about time they do it. They didn’t.
5. Flash Player Support (for Safari) – we still don’t have the entire internet in our hands. Just the static internet.
6. USB support, storage – it’s true, we can do that with some apps from the App Store, but it would have been nice to know we can access the iPad as a storage device too.
7. Awesome application for video conferencing + better camera – they removed the camera, so they don’t have to build the app. :-)
8. Improved touch gestures – these are still intuitive and nice, but on a larger device I was expecting much more than what we have on the iPhone.
9. Smaller border around the screen – the design is slick, I admit it. But what’s with the HUGE black screen around it?! Is that larger than the one on the Macbook? :-)
10. Exciting software – I was expecting to see some amazing new apps from Apple, with the release of such a large device. Maybe something to be able to control the devices around the house, a remote control for everything, with an additional hardware device or something. :-)

I didn’t expect Apple will remove the camera and the phone functionalities!

Conclusion

Am I disappointed by the iPad? You bet.
Am I disappointed by Apple? No, they rock! :)

I wasn’t expecting the iPad to be cheaper than an iPhone, but due to the limitations it currently holds, I would rather wait version #2 and pay top dollars for it.

All in all, I really like the name. In our language it doesn’t mean anything wrong. Other than that, you’ll notice I updated my categories to include both the iPhone and iPad. The good part is I don’t necessarily have to change the icon! :-)

How do you feel about the iPad? Will you purchase it?

Newspapers will probably switch to digital newspapers, and it will make even more sense to start developing for this platform as well. And I must say, most of the iPhone developers are Flash Developers. This is what I’ve seen and it doesn’t surprise me at all. We are a different specie. :-) We breath interactive stuff, and MAC OS and iPhone OS are very similar to how Flash Apps look and feel.

I’d love to see Flash used on the iPhone, and on the tablet as well, but Adobe has some work to do in order to get it there I guess. This will only make us, Flash Developers, able to focus more on developing the apps, rather than learning the new language. At the moment I’ll get out of my comfort zone, which I usually do, and see what this new stuff is.

I’d like to start this decade with publishing the iPhone and web apps that I use daily, every new year. This post is dedicated to the iPhone apps only.

This list doesn’t contain the default apps built by Apple, although I use most of them on a daily basis. So here’s what I’ve been using in 2009:

1. NetNewsWire – it syncs with the desktop app (MAC only), and works through Google Reader. It’s excellent for RSS! I would pay for it.
2. Evernote – this excellent app is great for remembering things. It also has a desktop version and a web version as well. I use it daily on my iPhone but also on the iMac. It’s set to open at login. :-)
3. WordPress – I use it to write post ideas, to approve comments and to check if there’s any new comment, without having to sign into WP on the web.
4. PayPal – I use it to send money and to check the balance. It’s excellent if you use PayPal on the web as well!
5. Echofon – twitter client. On the desktop I use Tweetie, but I love this one for the iPhone. It’s simple.
6. Groundwork – my default app for BaseCamp. I’d love 37Signals to release their own app though. This one is crashing now and then, and I would gladly stop using it if there was a better app.
7. To Do’s – I just love this little app. I put my important tasks there, like the list of things that I have to do this year, and it keeps me focus when I need to. I like it because it does less than all the other todo apps.
8. Ping! – this app is very useful for it’s push notification system. It’s a free messaging system.
9. Air Sharing – my memory stick card. :-)
10. Ziarul Financiar & HotNews – I like to be up to date with stuff, so these two Romanian newspapers help me do just that, through their iPhone apps. The most important newspapers are already on the iPhone (USA TODAY, NYTimes, WSJ, Esquire, etc) so this is why I will put any magazines or content provides under the same number. I think this list will only grow in time.

I seem to be using more the apps that keep me connected to the web, with a desktop version, because I am always in front of a computer. So this is the list of the apps I used almost daily in 2009.

Let me know what iPhone apps are you guys using on a daily basis, and why.

One of the tasks that feels like taking forever here at Vuzum, is doing the stuff that is the necessary evil, and that is keeping things organized. And when I speak of things, I also speak of clients and projects. We are after all developers at heart, and we tend to see things in an OOP way. You know, the matrix? :)

Jokes aside, it’s very important to have everything organized when you handle more than 15 projects at the same time, because 15 projects equals several clients, usually two or three on the same project. Do the math.

BaseCamp, a tool that I highly recommend to any serious company/start-up, is very good and very useful. We use it from day one and I wouldn’t stop using it even if they would charge 100USD/month. We can’t do things well without it. We can’t save time without it.

But there are things which BaseCamp just doesn’t do. Simpler things, like taking a client project through these steps:

1. Upfront payment, start date, client name, project name eventually.
2. Milestone X, Y, Z, % payment, dates.
3. Balance, project sign-off, date.

And then, having all projects following the same structure, and knowing exactly how much money you earned monthly, how much you still expect and what’s the status of a single project, on the go, would be amazing!

Something as simple as this doesn’t exist. And this is why I decided to build it myself, for the iPhone, as my final project for the Computer Science University where I graduated.

I’ll keep you posted on how this hole process goes, as it’s an app I desperately need here at Vuzum! :-)

Do not ask me why the iPhone, what is an iPhone, or anything like that, because if you do, if you still don’t know how the iPhone has changed and is changing the web, than you better not let me know. Hihi, that sounds rude, I know. :-)