Maintaining Kids' Finances is Difficult

Rebecca, over at Zenerdgy:

In the past, we had lots of money mishaps. Sometimes, they handed the money to a "responsible" parent. I usually placed the money in an envelope, which we never had handy when the child found the perfect toy at the store. Since Ben and I never remembered the amounts in the envelope, we relied on the child's memory. They always swore that they had enough money, but that often was not the case (funny, how they forget money spent but not money owed).

The rest of the post is a good, quick read on the trials and tribulations of tracking children's allowances. By the way, their app Family Bank is available on the App Store. Check it out.

iOS Easily Won the Black Friday Wars

Jay Yarow, over at Business Insider, regarding IBM's analysis of Black Friday sales:

It broke out an analysis of iOS and Android: On average, iOS users spent $127.92 per order on Black Friday compared to $105.20 per order for Android users. iOS traffic reached 28.2 percent of all online traffic, compared to 11.4 percent for Android. iOS sales reached 18.1 percent of all online sales, compared to 3.5 percent for Android.

On a market share basis and an installed user base basis, Android is the number one operating system in the world. However, if the user base doesn't make use of their devices in ways that make it worth developers' and retailers' time, then Android will continue to be an afterthought. iOS users spend more time on their devices and spend a disproportionate amount of money when compared to Android users. I would wager that Windows Phone users would be treated better than they currently are if they spent money and time disproportionate to their installed user base too.

Folks, if you want to be treated as first-class netizens, then you must spend like first-class netizens. Developers and retailers aren't running charities.

The Joy of Android Tablets Made by Polaroid

Autumn is a special time of the year, especially around Halloween. On a foggy Saturday, I ventured out to the local Big Lots discount store to acquire some items for the spooky evening to come. I was prepared for many things--ghouls, ghosts, goblins--but I was not prepared for this .

Folks, I don't have monstrous Hulk hands. That is a device with a 4.3" screen that Polaroid is trying to pass off as a "tablet". This puppy can be had for the low, low price of $55. What, pray tell, does a person get for their money?

This tablet apparently comes loaded with Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich), a fact that it proudly proclaims. Granted, this version of Android is two years old, but what else can you expect for such a low price?

It comes with a camera, specifically a front-facing camera. Funny enough, this little tablet could arguably use a rear-facing camera. I've seen many people using their iPads as cameras, which always looks ridiculous. In contrast, this Polaroid tablet is closer in size to a smartphone and wouldn't look out of place snapping a pic. Of course, we can only imagine what the quality of the images taken by this tablet's camera would be. (Probably as terrible as one of those Hello Kitty cameras that are sold at drug stores.)

The RAM is a bit scant, especially considering that the Android wasn't particularly snappy in versions prior to Google's Project Butter initiative. Users will have to make sure that they don't use too many apps at once, apparently.

Speaking of apps, the meager 4 GB of storage afforded by this device won't allow for users to have many of those installed. On the plus side, the storage is apparently expandable to 32 GB via a card sold separately.

Folks, this is a terrible device. It's laughable to call this a tablet. I'm saddened by the thought of some poor soul out there having this as their first tablet experience. Now that is a scary thought.

More Hullabaloo About Nike's Lack of an Android App for the FuelBand

From a recent article by Roger Cheng over at CNet:

Nike is only shooting itself in the foot with its stubborn reluctance to work with Android. The athletic apparel company on Tuesday introduced its second-generation fitness tracker, the FuelBand SE, which worked beautifully on Apple's iOS devices and computers. Missing from the presentation, however, was any mention of Android.

Earlier this year, I wrote about the possible reasons why Nike's FuelBand won't have an Android app. Funny enough, those reasons that I analyzed are still as true today as they were eight months ago.

By the way, John Gruber (of Daring Fireball fame) wrote a short but excellent post on why Cheng's premise is flawed.

Japan Increases Its Lead in Virtual Girlfriend Technology with Hatsune Miku App for iOS

From the folks at Japanator:

Miku will dance with your music, communicate with you, play dress up, and give you presents to collect.

It won't be long before someone marries this virtual girlfriend, folks.

Usain Bolt Has Gone Temple Running

Tom Phillips, over at Eurogamer:

12 months have passed since the glory of London 2012. Jessica Ennis is now appearing in skin care ads. Olympic Park is being dismantled, and gold medallist Usain Bolt is now available to purchase as a playable character in endless runner Temple Run 2.

If you've ever had the desire to play as an Olympic gold medalist in Temple Run 2, then now's your chance. As for me, I remember having a lot of fun playing World Class Track Meet for the NES with my cousins.

'Home' is a Good Horror Game for iOS

'Home' is one of those games that sneaks up on you, no pun intended. At first glance, it doesn't seem like much but as you progress through the game you find that there is so much more to be found. Without going too far into spoiler territory, the story revolves around a character who wakes up with a damaged leg and then has to unravel a mystery surrounding his amnesia.

This is a game that follows the traditional 'point-and-click' adventure style. The graphics have a retro feel to them, and the use of the flashlight provides an appropriately creepy feeling. Likewise, the audio effects are excellent in the way they emphasize the tension being felt by the character (and by extension, the player).

Tension and anticipation are the main draw of this game. Transitions between different rooms use a door animation that is reminiscent of the transitions between rooms in Resident Evil. You never know what to expect next around every corner or every item you pick up (or don't pick up), and the choices you make throughout the game impact the ending of the game.

Folks, give this one a try. I recommend playing late at night in a dark, quiet room. The experience is so much better that way.

'Zombiegal Kawaii' is an Odd Yet Fun Game for iOS

Zombiegal Kawaii is a side-scrolling game for iOS (iPhone/iPad) that pits players against hordes of zombies that have taken over your hometown. There are other games that follow this same basic plot, but where Zombiegal Kawaii separates itself from the pack is through its unique character design and character audio.

The main character is a gun-toting schoolgirl that is drawn chibi style. As the player plays the game, the girl will make some sort of context sensitive utterance (in a stereotypically syrupy sweet voice). If you pick up ammo, she will say 'yokatta wa (good)' . Picking up a health kit will elicit a 'daijoubu (I'm ok/not hurt)' . If you go on a bit of a rampage and get multiple kills in a row, she will exclaim 'shinde! shinde! (die! die!)'. These character quips, coupled with the fact that you are fighting chibi-zombie girls, make for fun and fast-paced gameplay.

Zombiegal Kawaii is $0.99 in the App Store, but plays like a freemium game. I've previously written about how certain games have really missed the mark and others have done really well with integrating freemium aspects into the gameplay, and this game leans towards the latter. There is a 'energy meter' that limits how many levels you can play in any one sitting. This energy meter, of course, is intended to encourage you to pay for an in-app purchase that gives you more energy (and thus more play time). This game is best played in relatively short bursts, so this energy meter never really bothered me much (though I can see how it might bother folks who want to play more).

As you progress through the game, your character gains experience and picks up money from fallen zombies. These can be spent in the 'store' screen where you can buy new guns or other kinds of weapons such as a baseball bat or katana. You can also purchase 'attribute enhancements' that impact character stats such as speed, accuracy, or counter-moves.

Additionally, you can purchase outfits for your character. This brings up what is perhaps the biggest downside to the game--the somewhat sleazy way that the character is presented in some of the loading screens and the in-app store. Tapping an item that you don't have enough in-app currency to afford brings up a prompt to go to the shop to buy coins, which is punctuated with a picture of the main character in her underwear and in a suggestive pose (drawn in a much more realistic style than normally seen through gameplay). The juxtaposition of the cute, chibi-style and the sexualized versions of the character is odd, to say the least.

Folks, Zombiegal Kawaii is a game that is worth a look. The touch controls work well, and the visual design and audio work is appealing. The art style may not appeal to everyone, but fans of anime and manga will find the style familiar and inviting.

Not Going to Violate Apple's NDA

Some folks have asked me to write about my impressions on iOS 7. Unfortunately, as an iOS developer I am bound by the NDA (non-disclosure agreement) regarding software and features that are not yet released. In essence, if Apple did not show the information at their WWDC Keynote, it can't be discussed with the general public. While Apple did show a lot of good stuff in the keynote, the things that I found most interesting were not shown/described in the keynote and therefore under NDA.

I currently have the iOS 7 beta installed on an old phone and I have been trying out its various features and getting a better idea of how its new design language works. Folks, rest assured that I will write about iOS 7 when it becomes publicly available sometime this autumn with the release of this year's new iPhone.

Google Made a Huge Number of Awesome Announcements at its I/O Keynote

Google is once again making waves in the technology world. Here are some quick thoughts about the most important and/or interesting things they announced during their keynote at Google I/O.

Google Maps + Google Earth + Street View: The visual design revamp is remarkable, and the location+identity-based search relevance is incredible. It's difficult to conceive of any competitor (e.g. Apple) ever catching up to Google in this arena.

Google Now reminder cards, transit info, music recommendations: Google Now was already very useful before, and now is even more useful with these new cards. Hopefully we will see these cards added to the iOS Google Search app.

Google+ Hangouts app: This is something that has been sorely needed to bring sanity to Google's messaging/communications services.

Android Studio: I'm a huge fan of the IntelliJ IDE, and it looks like Google has worked closely with the folks at JetBrains to make it even easier for developers to create apps for Android.

Google Play game services: This is similar in concept to Apple's Game Center, but offers cross-platform compatibility. This helps game developers to keep players engaged across the platform markets.

Google Chrome Voice Search: This is technically interesting, and socially somewhat creepy. Also, imagine having fun pranking your co-workers by making their browser search for something inappropriate.

Unlocked Samsung Galaxy S4 with stock Android: This one was a shocker. I've written before about Google and Samsung's relationship issues, and this was an unexpected yet welcome surprise. This is arguably the best Android phone on the market, and quite possibly is the best smartphone on the market.

Folks, that was just the first day of the Google I/O conference announcements, with more to come. By the way, if you don't feel like sitting through all 3.5 hours of the keynote video, the folks at The Verge edited the keynote down to the best 3.5 minutes.