November 2008

Does iPhone User = Mac User?

November 25, 2008 by Marc

There is a perception out there that iPhone users are Mac users. Now before I say more, let me make it clear right now that this is NOT a “Which OS is best?” article. From a business perspective, the quality of the OS doesn’t matter to me as much as how many users of a particular OS are out there, and whether they will buy our software. I PREFER a high-quality OS because of the cool stuff we can do with it, but in the end its about which OS will pay the bills.

O.K., Disclaimer complete!

I’m still looking for a solid study on this, but from everything I’ve seen so far (based largely on our own sales information) it just isn’t true that iPhone User = Mac User. I think part of the reason for this is that according to one estimate, the total number of Mac users in the world (adjusting for recent increases in market share) is around 22,750,000. This doesn’t adjust down for the number of these Macs that are sitting on desks in computer labs of schools. So the number is probably lower. We’ll go with it though.

The total number of iPhones expected to be sold by end of this year is at least 14,000,000. This doesn’t account for the fact that a lot of the 3G sales were 1st gen users replacing their old phones. Still, like the 22m number, we’ll go with it.

So, what is a reasonable estimate for the number of Mac users who are buying iPhones? 20%? I’m betting this is high, based on what I know about smartphone ownership in general, but let’s go with this as a conservative number. I say conservative because 20% is 2 to 3 times the marketshare (depending on the estimate you use) of Mac in the computing market. So with 20% adoption rate I’m suggesting that Mac users are 3X more likely to buy an iPhone than a Windows user.

So, even at 20% adoption rate among Mac owners, this means that only 4.5 million of the 14 million iPhone users have Macs. That means that twice as many iPhone users have PCs. Throw in the fact that we also have a VERY big Windows Mobile market, and you can see why Windows has to be our first priority. To put it simply, Windows iPhone users are (at the moment) still where the money is.

At the same time, we absolutely see the value of Mac as a platform for our products. (I just saw a new build of eWallet for Mac the other day and it’s really coming along.) The reality though is that Mac isn’t a “core” platform yet. It falls into the “emerging” category. Of course as you all know, we don’t ignore emerging markets. Where you go, we go. It’s just that most folks aren’t there yet.

I hope that this article will help folks who say “Seriously, dude. Why on Earth do you have an iPhone version but no Mac version?” to better understand the numbers behind our decision making process.

Nice Kings Corners review

November 20, 2008 by Marc

I just wanted to share a great Kings Corners review from Doug over at JAMM. He really captures what is fun about the game and as always, does a very thorough review of the app. I especially like his “just one more try” comment, since I can’t even tell you how many times I’ve said that! I also really like his timer idea. Playing in a speed mode would be very fun. After playing hundreds of games, I put a lot of thought into my moves now and a timer would add a cool element of excitement. (Puttin’ that one on my list. :) )

You can check out the entire review here.

Kings Corners from Ilium Software!

November 17, 2008 by Marc

Kings Corners for iPhone is now available in the AppStore! I’m extremely excited about this, and the best part for you is that it’s only 99 Cents! If you want the official marketing pitch, we’ve got a web page here. Or if you just want to buy it now, go here! In this post I’m just going to tell you my own thoughts on the game.

So if you want the candid scoop on our new game, read on after the jump!

A Blast from the Past!

Those of you who’ve been around awhile might say, “Kings Corners? That sounds familiar.” Well, you’re right! Kings Corners was part of a game pack we used to sell called Game Bag One. It was the second program we came out with after InScribe back in 1997. Kings Corners was the most popular game in the collection (and a personal favorite of mine), so we dusted it off and brought it back for the iPhone!

What Is Kings Corners?

Fun! But I’ll talk about that next! The game is based off a solitaire classic called Kings in the Corners. The idea is to get all the face cards down on the table without running out of slots to place cards in. If you want more details on the play the best thing to do is just play it!

Why do I like it? For one thing this game is insanely fun and addictive. It’s simple and straight-forward, but man does it suck you in! One thing I especially like is that you can snap off a game in just a few minutes. A lot of the games on my phone are fun but they demand that I commit a decent amount of time to actually get through a game. Kings Corners is my game-of-choice for waiting in lines or waiting for the doctor or that sort of “2-Minutes-to-Burn” situations.

Other Questions I Know You’ll Ask Because You Always Do!

First, we are working on a Mac version of eWallet. It just isn’t done yet. We’ll keep you updated.

Second, this has no impact on our ListPro for iPhone work. We have different people doing different jobs, and there’s only so many people you can jam onto one project. The ListPro thing isn’t a result of needing people to throw at the project. If you haven’t already, you can read about that over here.

So, Go Get It Already!

So, go get your copy of Kings Corners already! The game is incredibly fun and right now the price is definitely right. And if you don’t like it, send me an email and I’ll personally apologize for leading you astray! That’s how confident I am that you’ll have fun!!

Hey, Apple. Where's the "Gift This App" button?

November 13, 2008 by Marc

If there is one thing that is missing from the AppStore, it’s a “Gift This App” button. Don’t get me wrong. Depsite a few hiccups early on, overall we’re quite happy with the whole AppStore experience. It’s just that we’d love a way to buy promo copies of our software for people. And then there are reviewers. We know about Ad Hoc, but splitting 100 Ad Hoc licenses between in-house devices, beta testers, and reviewers just isn’t enough. We’ll pay full price for our software - we just want it to be free for the other person.

As I mentioned, this is a problem for promotions. It’s an even bigger problem for reviewers, though. Read on after the jump to see why…

Review Copies vs Bribes

There has always been this fine line a company has to walk when providing promotional copies of a product for review purposes. You don’t want the public to feel like you’re paying off a reviewer for checking out your product. The problem is that asking a reviewer (most of whom are hobbyists these days) to cough up the dough to buy every app they review isn’t realistic. Even $.99 apps get expensive when you buy enough of them. They can’t do it, and reviews are an important part of how customers choose products.

Although people have always been slightly uncomfortable with this system, in the end the public appreciates the reviews so they accept the system we’ve come up with. A reviewer contacts us with a request to review the application, and we provide them with a copy.

The Broken System

Unfortunately, Apple’s AppStore broke this review system. There really isn’t a way to easily get iPhone products out to a reviewer. Ad Hoc is an option, but as I mentioned above, you are limited in the number of licenses you can distribute (and it’s pretty clunky). The licenses you do get have to cover all your in-house devices (including QA devices), all your beta testers, and every reviewer we want to look at the application (plus my Mom ;) ).

The only solution we’ve come up with so far is to reimburse reviewers with iTunes credit. We really don’t like this. Giving someone a copy of your product is one thing, but handing a reviewer money just makes us uncomfortable. What is more, you can’t give less than $9.99. So, what happens when we want to give someone a $4.99 app, or a $.99 app? Do we give them $9.99? Do we paypal them the money? We haven’t had to deal with this yet, but we will in the future.

The Simple Solution: Gift This App

The good news is that a solution already exists! In the other iTunes stores you can select “Gift This Music” or “Gift This TV Show”. The bad news is that it isn’t turned on for Applications!

So, Apple! If you’re listening, please turn on Gift This App! We want to buy even more software and give you even more money! At the same time, you’ll be helping us solve one of the few problems we have with the AppStore.

eWallet for BlackBerry Open Beta!

November 5, 2008 by Marc

eWallet for BlackBerry is finally here! It isn’t available for purchase yet, but we’re very excited to announce that you can download a Beta version of the software today! This version is a full featured version and will synchronize with eWallet 6.1.3 for Windows PC. (If you do not have 6.1.3 on your desktop PC yet, click here.)

Although this is a Beta version of the application, it is extremely solid and works great. It IS  a Beta though, so all the usual warnings and disclaimers apply (for instance, be sure to make a good backup of your wallet files before you start using it, use at your own risk, etc.) Again, it is extremely solid but officially it is a Beta.

In addition, while this is “full featured” this Beta version will only function for a limited time. At the end of that time you’ll need to get the full version if you wish to continue using the application.

OK, enough talk and more downloads! Here are the links you can use to download the Beta version. Both are for an EXE that you run on your desktop computer that will let you install the application to your BlackBerry. Note that I’ve included a zipped download as well because some folks’ security won’t let them download ANY EXE files.

Download the EXE file

Download the ZIP file

Next up, if you decide to try this out we encourage you to give us feedback! Let us know what you like, what you don’t like, and if you run into any problems! WebIS is hosting a forum to facilitate this. You can find the forum here:

eWallet for BlackBerry Open Beta

SO, that’s that! I hope you guys like it! As always, let us know if you have any problems!

PS: See, I told you it wasn’t Vaporware. ;) :)

Subtle Reminder: VOTE! VOTE! VOTE!

November 4, 2008 by Marc

To all of our readers in the U.S., I want to encourage you to get out there and vote today! No matter which side you are for, this is an important election for our country. I went this morning, and amazingly I got through in around 15 minutes! The poll workers are busting their backsides to make sure that everything runs smoothly! So don’t assume the worst about the lines.

Enough blog reading already! Get to the polls!