It's Difficult for Apple and Samsung to Compete with These Prices in India

Kartikay Mehrotra, in a post for Bloomberg:

Karbonn unveiled the Titanium S5 on March 15, with similar technical specifications to the Canvas HD: Qualcomm Inc. (QCOM)’s Snap Dragon quad-core processor, an 8-megapixel camera and a 5-inch touchscreen for 11,990 rupees. Samsung, the market leader in Indian smartphones, offers the same features on its Galaxy Grand for 21,500 rupees. The iPhone 5 starts at 45,500 rupees in a market where operators do not subsidize handsets.

I've recently had a lot of conversations with a friend, who is from India, about the impact that Karbonn and Micromax have had on the Indian smartphone market. These two manufacturers offer phones that have features comparable to what is available from Samsung and Apple but at half the price. In fact, according to my friend, these phones are cheap enough that oftentimes users will simply purchase a new phone every year since it is the easiest (and sometimes only way) for them to get the latest and greatest operating system version.

Gogo Does Not Have a Monopoly on In-Flight Internet

Jeff John Roberts at GigaOM:

In throwing out the case, Chen accepted GoGo’s argument that it doesn’t have dominant market share because it covers only 16% of all US airplanes, and it’s possible for the remaining planes, which do not offer internet, to sign up with a competing service provider. The internet contracts are sold on airplane-by-airplane basis, and not across entire airlines.

As noted in the article, Gogo has an astounding 85% share of aircraft that offer in-flight internet service in the USA. However, that is altogether different from having a monopoly on in-flight internet service when that 85% share represents only 16% of all aircraft in the USA. This lawsuit seems like it was brought forward by people who feel that they are entitled to everything that they want.

What If Zelda Was the Hero Instead of Link?

Aaron Diaz has an awesome concept for a new entry in the Legend of Zelda series:

This concept work is meant to show that Zelda as a game protagonist can be both compelling and true to the franchise, while bringing new and dynamic game elements that go farther than being a simple gender swap.

The character designs, to my eyes, look like they are a mixture of the Skyward Sword and Wind Waker designs but with a flavor all their own. My favorite design is the 'Sheika Nomad Robes' outfit for Zelda. I like that the concept for the story and gameplay share a heritage with the previous games in the series, yet it is obvious that there are new storylines and gameplay mechanics mixed in as well. Overall, kudos to Diaz for this thoughtful concept.

AppGratis was Banned From the App Store for a Good Reason

Parmy Olson, writing for Forbes:

App Gratis had amassed roughly 12 million users on iOS by then, but it also walked a fine line between expanding, and following two of Apple’s guidelines for app developers:

- That they don’t promote apps in a similar or confusing way to the App Store.

- That they provide “lasting entertainment value,” as opposed to being “not very useful, unique, [and] are simply web sites bundled as Apps.”

There has been a lot of press about this event. The fact of the matter is that AppGratis's business model--at best--skirted Apple's guidelines and--at worst--violated them. Apple's decision makes sense when you consider their goal of making the App Store a beautiful walled garden. Apple doesn't want the App Store rankings to be manipulated by developers who pay for downloads. AppGratis, unfortunately, is predicated on the idea that developers can pay to get their app out to many people for free (i.e. 'gratis'), which ran afoul of Apple's guidlines.

Companies Suddenly Want to Get Into the Android Launcher Business

Parmy Olson, writing for Forbes:

Messaging app KakaoTalk is gearing up to release an Android launcher that will be similar to the mobile product Facebook announced last week called Home. KakaoTalk’s co-CEO Sirgoo Lee revealed the plans in an interview with Forbes, adding that the launcher would be released “within a couple of weeks” and would make accessing its free-messaging and calling app easier for current users, most of whom are in southeast Asia. “We hope to put in features that will attract non-KakaoTalk users as well,” he added.

Facebook's recently announced Facebook Home, it seems, will be the first of many Android launchers that will attempt to garner greater visibility by catering to their specific user base. Also, I was unaware that KakaoTalk has such a large percentage of users in South Korea (66%) when compared to Facebook's share (17%).

'In Defence of the Floppy Disk Save Symbol'

Connor Tomas O'Brien, in a blog post:

Those who believe that the floppy cannot represent saving a document because nobody uses real floppy disks anymore miss an important point: while symbols initially piggyback on the meaning we assigned to a material object in order to stand in for something more abstract, once a symbol is used often enough, the symbol itself is enough to carry meaning, and the material object is no longer important.

O'Brien has an interesting viewpoint on this topic, which has been on a lot of designers' and developers' minds ever since we started debating things like skeuomorphism.

'Engineering Serendipity'

Greg Lindsay, writing for The New York Times:

Silicon Valley is obsessed with serendipity, the reigning buzzword at last month’s South by Southwest Interactive Festival. The term, coined by the British aristocrat Horace Walpole in a 1754 letter, long referred to a fortunate accidental discovery. Today serendipity is regarded as close kin to creativity — the mysterious means by which new ideas enter the world. But are hallway collisions really the best way to stoke innovation?

It's tough to create an environment where creative professionals (such as developers) are highly productive. You have to hire the right team, you have to work on interesting things, and you have to figure out your workplace situation. The article covers a topic that has become de rigueur these days. It isn't enough to simply do the aforementioned steps; a company must cultivate an environment where developers meet each other in informal settings and 'talk shop', thereby generating fresh new ideas.

The First-Person Shooter Version of Mega Man Would Have Been Weird

Michael McWhertor and Wes Fenlon, at Polygon:

The game would have stayed true to core Mega Man X gameplay concepts, re-imagining his X-Buster arm cannon, his dash and his ability to appropriate the special powers of his fallen enemies. Platforming elements, including X's wall jump, and classic Mega Man X characters would have been re-imagined in new ways.

The videos are quite interesting. They show a Mega Man game that has a completely different style than previous editions. That difference, in fact, might have been the downfall for the game (which was never made beyond prototyping). The article mentions the transition that Metroid made from 2D to 3D, but it's worth noting that the style change was not quite as drastic since Metroid was always somewhat 'dark'. Mega Man, by comparison, has historically been a lot more 'upbeat' in terms of art style.

Sonic Dash is a Good Example of Freemium Done Right

I've recently been playing an iOS game called Sonic Dash, and it is a good example of how to do freemium right. While not the most original game (it is--at its core--a Temple Run clone), it is a fun game that distills the core experience of Sonic the Hedgehog games--running, jumping, and loop-the-loops.

That speaks to the fun, but what about the freemium? Well, that can be summed up by saying that Sonic Dash, while clearly trying to sell in-app purchases to the player at various points throughout the game, makes its sales attempts in a way that is much classier and more enjoyable than many other freemium games.

Take Words with Friends as an example. It not only has a user interface filled with distractions (mostly ads), but degrades the user's enjoyment by taking over the entire screen with ugly ads. In the worst cases, Zynga takes the cake by forcing users to load a video ad.

*Words with Friends is an example of poor user experience caused by intrusive ads.*

In contrast, Sonic Dash integrates in-app purchases in a more sensible manner. When a user loses, they see this screen:

The user is presented with a sales proposition (in this case, to purchase tokens that let them continue their current 'run'). Notice the difference from Words with Friends. The ad is something that helps the user continue in the game, rather than being an ad for something completely unrelated to gameplay. As well, the ad can be quickly dismissed by tapping the green arrow.

Tapping that green arrow, by the way, presents the user with the following screens:

The user is presented with items that can be purchased using 'currency' that can be earned via gameplay (in this case, collecting golden rings). As well, the user is shown their score for the current 'run'. Tapping the 'X' on the hint window will take users to the final screen, where they can share their experience on social networks, see a list of items that can be purchased, or simply play again.

It's important to take note of the fact that not only is the for-pay portion of Sonic Dash more sensible in the context of the game, its ads are also much more pleasing to the eye than the typically garish ads displayed in Words with Friends.

Folks, SEGA has done a fine job of producing a freemium game that is fun to play and sells items without being distasteful about it.

Samsung is Building Stores Inside of Best Buy

As has been reported, Samsung is building stores inside of Best Buy. This is a very smart move to push the Samsung brand across all of the many products that it manufactures.

Coincidentally, I popped into a local Best Buy and snapped a pic of that store's Samsung store (which is not yet complete).

To no one's surprise, this is across the aisle from the Apple store.