The tiny Raspberry Pi computer is the latest device to get its own app store. The Pi Store opened for custom on 17th December contains a range of apps from games to developers’ tools. Currently there are twenty five apps available to download in the Pi Store, but this number is expected to grow significantly in the coming months.

The Pi Store is a collaboration between the Raspberry Pi Foundation, Indie City – operators of an online marketplace for independent game developers – and Velocix. The foundation launched the store with the aim to enable “young people to share their creations with a wider audience, and maybe to make a little pocket money”. Currently all apps are free to download except Storm in a Teacup. Storm in a Teacup features 50 levels of physics based puzzles and is priced at £1.99.

The range of apps on the Pi Store is already diverse. There are five games on offer including Freeciv which is an open source empire-building strategy game. OpenTTD, the popular open source transport simulation game can also be found in the store. Despotify is a Spotify client for the Raspberry Pi and is free to download, however users need a Spotify Premium account to use the app. LibreOffice brings an extensive suite of office applications to the Raspberry Pi and is compatible with Microsoft Office files. There are also several apps intended to assist Raspberry Pi developers. The Pi Store is also intended to be the hope of “Pi-related” media including the MagPi e-magazine and tutorials produced from the community.

The Raspberry Pi has widely been regarded as a success since its launch earlier in the year. Amateur and professional developers alike have written and ported a wide range of applications to run on the system but until now there has been no obvious place to find or distribute these applications. The Pi Store changes this and will greatly simplify the experience for developers and users.

A blog post on the Raspberry Pi foundation website encourages the community of Raspberry Pi users to embrace the store. The community has been asked to submit their own projects to populate the store and to review and rate the apps already on offer. The store features a clever recommendation engine which will learn about you and your preferences as you rate, review and download apps. These recommendations will improve as you interact more and more with the store.

The Pi store itself is easily browsed and well constructed. Apps can be found through their category or through their tags. There is also useful search and sort functions in the store. All apps on the store have a content rating so users know whether the content is appropriate for the recipient. Given that the Raspberry Pi is based upon an open source platform all apps also detail their associated licences so users are aware if they can modify or redistribute the app.

To download apps from the store, Raspberry Pi users must first download the Raspberry Pi Store application. Users can download the application from Raspberry Pi’s official download page.

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Increasing availability isn’t going to help Microsoft much…

I’ve been in computing since computing was done with cassette recorders. I may have just dated myself, perhaps a bit too much, but I’ve been in the game since before Microsoft was Microsoft and before Apple was Apple. I understand a bit about the challenges that MS is facing right now, and honestly, they’re blowing it. They really are. Here’s why…

As far as the tablet game is concerned, there are really two players…Just two, kids. That’s it – Apple and their arch nemesis, Samsung. As much as Google with their Nexus 7 and Asus with their Transformer and other vendors with their <pick a product> may want to say they’re a contender, they’re not. Apple is the defacto leader here. They wrote the book on tablets with the introduction of their iconic iPad. Their ecosystem was designed to lock users in; and their elegant industrial designs attract more and more users everyday. Its going to be hard for them to blow this gig.

Samsung is really the only real successful Android tablet maker in my mind. Their Galaxy Tab and Galaxy Note lines of tablets have set the bar on the Google side of the house and have left nearly every other tablet in the dust, including Google’s own Nexus branded offering, in my opinion. They’ve really set the bar here. Yes, the Amazon Kindle line of tablets is a serious contender, but the way they’ve positioned their products and structured their ecosystem, there’s not much room for innovation in my opinion.

There are really no other tablet platform offerings; or at least there weren’t until Microsoft introduced Windows 8 and Windows RT and their Surface branded tablets. Microsoft had a real opportunity here. They had a chance to establish themselves as a real contender in the tablet arena. They blew it when they priced their tablets higher than most of their hardware partners are pricing their value-line laptops.

There have been a lot of stories in the media lately about how MS never intended Surface to be a direct competitor with Apple, and how they don’t want it widely distributed. I’m not buying that. I would think that they would want the tablets, both Surface RT and Surface Pro devices, in as many retail locations and end users hands as possible. Their recent activities to make Surface tablets available at other retail/POS outlets contradicts what the media is reporting.

I honestly don’t get the strategy behind what MS is doing with Surface RT and Surface Pro. If given the opportunity, I’d make them dirt cheap and get them in as many end users hands as possible. I’d even provide device subsidies back to their hardware partners to help them lower the prices of their RT and Pro devices, too.

In my opinion, the only way Microsoft can establish themselves as a serious tablet player is to flood the market with extremely affordable, competitively performing devices. Apple and Samsung, heck even Amazon, are too much in command of the tablet market right now for Surface NOT to be taking this tactic. The only way MS makes headway is to make them a cost competitor, and unfortunately…they didn’t do that.

It’s a disappointment, because I think they’ve likely marketed themselves into a corner, and recovering from that is going to be difficult for them. Increasing availability won’t help. Lowering the price and making it a more attractive purchasing decision…? Yeah. That will help.

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I saw an article today that indicated that T-Mobile USA would finally start selling Apple products in 2013. This makes a great deal of sense considering that T-Mobile has been doing a great deal of spectrum refarming, moving support for their HSPA+ network to include the iPhone compatible, 1900mHz band.

A short while ago, I wrote an article for BYTE indicating that despite the spectrum refarming, T-Mo USA would never, ever, EVER carry the iPhone. The big reason wasn’t frequency compatibility like everyone thought, especially with the spectrum refarming. The problem for tiny T-Mo was the huge device subsidy fees, as well as the device quotas that Apple would require of them. Sprint paid well over $1.0B USD to carry the iDevice.

In order to eliminate the need for a subsidy, T-Mo will carry the device, but charge the customer full price for it. Meaning that the T-Mo branded iPhone will likely cost between $650 to $850, depending on the amount of onboard storage. The voice and data plans will cost the customer a lot less as a result; and will be classified under T-Mo’s Value program.

The iPhone isn’t the only device that will go full price on T-Mo. All of their devices will go that way in 2013. Many T-Mo customers may choke on that, but in order to soften the blow, T-Mo will setup installment payments over 20 months if users can’t handle the full down stroke at contract start. While this may look like a device subsidy, it isn’t, and will still save users money over the 20 month installment period, according to T-Mobile USA.

The only thing really up in the air is when T-Mo will actually offer the device. T-Mo’s spectrum refarming should be completed by May 2013; and they may roll the device out nationally then. Apple tests the iPhone on every carrier LTE network before they allow the carrier to enable LTE support. T-Mobile won’t launch their LTE network until the second half of 2013; and as such, I’m guessing that Apple and T-Mobile USA will likely support the iPhone 5S (or 7th generation iPhone), making their inaugural announcement on stage, with Apple in September or October of 2013.

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Recent MS Survey Wants to Ask Users How it can Improve Customer Support…

Sorry… I’m not trying to make a mountain out of a molehill, but I really just can’t let this go.

I recently agreed to take a Microsoft survey on TechNET satisfaction. I’m a TechNET Pro subscriber and have been for about three years. It’s a great value, especially if you use MS software and have more than a couple PC’s to install it on.

One of the questions near the end of the survey asked – “To provide a better Customer Support experience, who could Microsoft best learn from, and why?”

My answer is below; but the point is not the first part of the first sentence – “Apple; but MS’ problems aren’t customer support, its relevance in the industry. Surface is a good start, but its WAY overpriced. MS should have taken the financial hit and priced Surface RT & Pro tablets for volume, not margin.”

The question came near the end of the survey; but it really didn’t sit well with me. I give MS high marks for being concerned about customer support; but they have bigger fish to fry than that. They need to figure out how to get back in the game.

Their Surface RT and Surface Pro tablets are significantly over priced. Similar partner products are not going to undercut the base level prices MS has set for both tablets at $499 and $899 respectively; and regardless of how awesome they may or may not be, this is a problem. MS Surface tablets should be priced to compete with 3rd party Android tablets – the Kindle Fires, the Galaxy Tabs/Notes which are low to high end respectively. Surface tablets should top out at $499-$599. Not start there.

Microsoft’s approach is to compete directly with Apple in both feature and price sets. They can’t afford to do that. Not at this late date, not with their late to market products in a market place that’s saturated with better established, competitors with more mature products. They need to come in low priced and fight the volume/low margin battle before stepping it up a notch. By pricing things where they are, I’m afraid that Microsoft has priced themselves right out of the market, and possibly, right out of business.

Windows 8 is likely the company’s last big (relevant) hurrah if it doesn’t take. While many enterprise customers will likely stick with Windows XP and Widnows 7 for a number of years to come, once support for both finally sunsets, moving business users to Windows 8 may be problematic.

In my opinion, the best thing that MS can do is push Windows 8 with all of the tools they have. This includes both Surface RT and Surface Pro tablets, and having them available at a much more attractive price point could have been huge for them. They chose to hit their margin targets on individual units rather than via volume.

It was a choice to make. I think it’s the wrong choice, but honestly, only time will really tell there. We’ll have to wait and see.

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Apple has announced that the latest iMac will be available on Friday, November 30. The new model features a stunning design, brilliant display with reduced reflection, faster processors and an a new storage option called Fusion Drivee. The 21.5-inch iMac will be available through the Apple Online Store, Apple’s retail stores and Resellers. The 27-inch iMac will be available for order through the Apple Online Store and will begin shipping in December.

Redesigned from the inside out, the new iMac packs high performance technology into an aluminum and glass enclosure that measures just 5 mm thin at its edge and features a reengineered display that reduces reflection by 75 percent. The new iMac includes 8 GB of 1600 MHz memory, a 1 TB hard drive, third generation quad-core Intel Core i5 processors that can be upgraded to Core i7, and the latest NVIDIA GeForce graphics processors that deliver up to 60 percent faster performance. Fusion Drive is an innovative new storage option that gives customers the performance of flash and the capacity of a hard drive by combining 128 GB of flash with a standard hard drive to create a single storage volume that intelligently manages files to optimize read and write performance.

Specs and prices:

• 21.5-inch iMac with a 2.7 GHz quad-core Intel Core i5 with Turbo Boost speeds up to 3.2 GHz and NVIDIA GeForce GT 640M for a suggested retail price of $1,299 (US);
• 2.9 GHz quad-core Intel Core i5 with Turbo Boost speeds up to 3.6 GHz and NVIDIA GeForce GT 650M for a suggested retail price of $1,499 (US);
• 27-inch iMac is available with a 2.9 GHz quad-core Intel Core i5 with Turbo Boost speeds up to 3.6 GHz and NVIDIA GeForce GTX 660M for a suggested retail price of $1,799 (US);
• 3.2 GHz quad-core Intel Core i5 with Turbo Boost speeds up to 3.6 GHz and NVIDIA GeForce GTX 675MX for a suggested retail price of $1,999 (US).

To find out more about the new iMac, please visit the official website.

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The little tiny Raspberry Pi will get its first exclusive game. Now, if you don’t know anything about Raspberry Pi, read this article about it. But if you don’t have the time for it, in short you should know that Raspberry Pi is that tiny mini PC that costs $25 and is the size of a USB flash drive.

The first game to run officially on it will a port of the popular Minecraft (more exactly Minecraft: Pocket Edition) the indie sandbox survival game developed by Mojang. Also known as Minecraft: Pi Edition, the game was officially announced at Minecon in Paris. The interesting thing about this version of Minecraft is that it will feature support for several programming languages that will allow any user not only to play it, but also to modify it while playing. You can literally break the code and manipulate anything in the game.

Mojang’s Owen Hill explains. “You could organize the cheapest LAN party of all time, or use the Pi to learn the fundamentals of programming on a miniscule budget. It’s like hacking your way into Minecraft and modifying the game world with code, a bit like being [game developers] Notch, Jeb, or Nathan, but arguably more fun and less stressful”.

The game will be available for free soon at the official Raspberry Pi website.

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2CFILM, a newly founded film company, recently launched its first project. Named APP, the project is actually a motion picture that involves the usage of your mobile as an additional screen. Your device will be fully synchronized with the movie in order to receive extra content while watching the movie in your beloved cinema.

APP will be the first film in a series of similar titles produced by 2CFILM to feature this technology. Good news is that this technology will be brought by an application based on  SyncNow^® digital watermarking developed by Service2Media and Civolution for iPhone and Android devices.

The movie is about obviously an app that becomes autonomous and dangerous. Nothing new on the narrative side, but the good thing is that the audience will be able to follow a parallel storyline via the app on their mobile phone while still watching the movie. Overall you will get a new dimension of the movie right in your pocket. APP is due for release in the Netherlands on 24 February 2013, and will be distributed by Just Film Distribution.

The partnership between 2CFILM, Service2Media and Civolution  will not end here. They will bring this technology not only in cinemas, but also on DVD’s, television and online TV channels. As Edvard van ‘t Wout, Founder, 2CFILM, states:

“App is our first step on to the international stage with our new approach to film, creating commercially-successful films that fit with how today’s audiences consume content and which resonate with the modern world.”

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Weeks before the official launch of iPhone 5, I was telling to myself: “AT&T is going to make me wait the entire 3-4 week delivery time”.

And that’s because back in the day, I stood in line and bought an AT&T locked, iPhone 3G. I had a very serious love-hate relationship with the device. It dropped nearly every call I was on at least once. Finally in October of 2007,  I remember being on the phone with a writing partner trying to discuss a couple stories we were writing. In a 20 minute time span, my iPhone dropped the call 11 times. I was sitting at my desk and had a 3-bar signal.  My writing partner was on a land line.

I had to ask myself – as a veteran product reviewer – would I put up with that kind of behavior from any other device?  The answer was a clear and unequivocated no.  I put the word out that I was selling the device.  It sold in less than 10 minutes.

We left AT&T; and I got into Android devices at that point, and were happy for a while.  The iPhone experience is so compelling, however,  that I eventually ended up buying an unlocked iPhone 4S and put it on the T-Mobile network and have lived there for the past year or so.  The device and the smartphone experience it brings is just that good.

My wife is due for a phone upgrade on T-Mo; and my daughter and I have unlocked iPhones. I did the math and decided that I could literally cut my cell bill in half by moving back to AT&T. I priced my unlocked iPhones for resale by Gazelle and found out I could part with both unlocked devices for the cost of 2 AT&T locked iPhone 5′s, so effectively, I get three brand new iPhones for the price of one.

I ordered them on 22-Sep-12, the day AFTER they were released in the US.  I was quoted a delivery time of 3-4 weeks.  And yes, I had to wait a lot.

Based on what I’ve heard about FoxConn quality issues, strikes and the complexity of the device to manufacture, I can only conclude that the rumors we’ve heard are true.  I was told by the salesman at my local AT&T store that other, single orders of 16GB iPhones placed AFTER mine have beaten their delivery estimates and have been activated. But not mine.

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