For those of you who are now using the new REALbasic 2009r3, we'll soon be releasing a compatible version of UniHelp. The new REALbasic 2009r3 deprecated EditField, replacing it with the new TextField, which breaks any third-party components that rely on the older EditField. UniHelp 4.0 currently utilizes the EditField for its Index and Search tabs, so this forthcoming new UniHelp version will be updated to use the new TextField instead for those 2 elements. Stay tuned...

Labels: developer, help author, help system, HTML, realbasic, XML

Twitter and the various iPhone-related web sites (such as TouchArcade's Forums) have been buzzing non-stop the last few days about Ngmoco's weekend announcement to remove Rolando 1 from the App Store to "make room" for the new Rolando 2 on July 1. Rolando 2 features all new levels and game play, so its not being offered as a free update for existing Rolando 1 users. Rolando 2 is being marketed as a brand new, separate product. For those still interested in playing Rolando 1, Ngmoco encouraged people to buy a copy of it before it disappears. Ngmoco had stated that they would continue to provide support for Rolando 1, so nothing would change for existing users, only new sales would be discontinued after July 1.

Due to the public uproar that ensued, Ngmoco announced yesterday that they've reversed their decision and plan to keep Rolando 1 in the App Store, but for the sake of exploring new business models, let's take a moment to dive a little deeper into Ngmoco's original experiment.

Rolando 1's retirement announcement left many fans scratching their heads, wondering why the removal. From a business perspective, it makes perfect sense for several reasons. For one, the announcement not only escalates Rolando 1 sales (get it before its gone), but it also heavily promotes the forthcoming release of Rolando 2. And two, if Rolando 2 is released with a higher price tag than Rolando 1, then the fear is that users will simply gravitate toward the cheaper original game. Unfortunately, based on the impulse buy nature of the current App Store architecture, price is often the key factor in app sales. Many angry fans asked Ngmoco to rethink their decision and keep Rolando 1 in the App Store with a reduced price of 99 cents, but honestly, that just makes the issue worse. At 99 cents, new sales from Rolando 1 would probably cannablize much of Rolando 2's potential sales.

The development of a sophisticated new game is a serious investment of time and money, so Ngmoco's focus on Rolando 2 sales is understandable. I can't blame them for wanting to have a successful new product launch -- its what all commercial developers strive for. They didn't want the sales of Rolando 2 being diluted by the original Rolando 1, since that could possibly negatively impact the future chart position of the new Rolando 2. And any iPhone developer knows that getting into the App Store's top sales charts equals valuable exposure, increased sales, and extended product longevity.

When placed in a business perspective, Ngmoco's move seems completely justifiable. So why were so many Rolando fans upset?

Even though CD-based console video games are frequently taken out of print (often replaced with new editions), that's a scenario that has been happening for decades now, so consumers are familiar with this physical product cycle. But users tend to view digital distribution as a totally different animal. Since there's no cost of goods or physical shipping, why would a game be discontinued? If the publisher is still in business and the related platform/device is still active, then their games should continue to be available for as long as there is a demand for them. Right? Well, if you're a user of that game, you'd probably high-five your friends with a "Hell, yes!", but I'm not sure the answer is that simple.

We've all come to love the App Store for being a reliable digital distribution system -- our little mobile safety net in the sky for re-downloading apps directly to our iPhones and iPod touches if we're away from our computer's backup iTunes Library. But we have to remember that the App Store is merely that: a storefront. We can't assume or expect all publishers to use the same business model, especially on a platform that's still so young. The App Store has only been open for one year and yet its already overflowing with more than 50,000 apps. Its getting so difficult for new apps to shine in such a crowded marketplace that developers are forced to try new marketing and sales strategies in the hopes of finding a big enough audience. Because without sufficient sales to support development, the future of those apps die.

The real issue here is a psychological one -- no one likes having something they treasure being taken away from them (even if a simple iTunes backup would prevent that problem). And Ngmoco's tactic is a relatively new one for the App Store ecosystem, so it seemed to have caught users off-guard.

While Ngmoco did change their minds and will keep Rolando 1 in the App Store, I will admit that I was genuinely curious to see how their original plan would have played out, but now we'll never know (at least not until another publisher tries it). Obviously, the folks at Ngmoco weighed the potential ill will of their existing customers against the sales strategy of Rolando 2... and maintaining happy loyal customers won out in the end.

Hopefully, Ngmoco's kind gesture will be rewarded with a boost in Rolando 2 sales.

Ngmoco's initial plan to retire Rolando 1 could have ultimately proven to be a successful sales experiment. But Ngmoco has just put a smile back on a lot of faces with the return of Rolando 1, and that's never a bad thing, especially when many of their existing customers will probably buy more of their iPhone games in the future.

iPhone Insights by Dave Wooldridge

Labels: iphone

As we mentioned previously, iPhone Insights will be a new series of blog posts that discusses interesting iPhone app business news and marketing strategies. If you're a professional iPhone developer or hope to someday publish your own iPhone apps in Apple's App Store, then you won't want to miss these forthcoming iPhone Insights blog posts.

If you already subscribe to Electric Butterfly's Blog, RSS Feed, or Email Alerts at http://www.ebutterfly.com/, then you'll automatically receive iPhone Insights blog posts.

But if you're interested in receiving ONLY the iPhone Insights blog posts, we've set up special filtered options just for you!

Subscribe to iPhone Insights RSS Feed:
http://feeds.feedburner.com/iphoneinsights

Subscribe to iPhone Insights Email News:
http://feedburner.google.com/fb/a/mailverify?uri=iphoneinsights&loc=en_US

Of course, for all the latest iPhone Insights and Electric Butterfly news, you can also follow us on Twitter at:
http://twitter.com/ebutterfly

Labels: iphone

Electric Butterfly's Dave Wooldridge will be posting blog entries related to the business of iPhone development, including interesting iPhone app business news and marketing strategies. If you're a professional iPhone developer or hope to someday publish your own iPhone apps in Apple's App Store, then you won't want to miss these forthcoming iPhone Insights blog posts.

If you already subscribe to Electric Butterfly's Blog, RSS Feed, or Email Alerts, then you'll automatically receive Dave's iPhone Insights blog posts.

If you're an iPhone developer whose interested in reading ONLY the iPhone Insights blog posts, then stay tuned... we'll soon be announcing a special filtered RSS Feed and Email Alerts service for iPhone Insights.

Labels: iphone

Major Update Includes a New Image Effects Editor and Enhanced Interface!

Electric Butterfly, Inc. proudly announces the release of Stimulus 4.5 for Mac OS X, the popular media browser that provides an easy way to manage and enjoy your personal collection of digital music, photos, and video clips.

We know times are tough, so to help you save money, we're offering our own Stimulus Plan! Save 50% off for a limited time only!

Tired of importing your media files into proprietary photo album and catalog formats? Tired of juggling between multiple applications just to enjoy your library of digital media files? Discouraged by the expensive prices of media management software? Stimulus is your solution! With support for 27 popular file formats, Stimulus works intuitively like a file browser, allowing you to select and view/play all of your favorite images, audio files, and video clips from where they reside on your hard drive. Rename, move, and delete files to organize your digital life. Play slideshows, add favorites to custom lists, adjust audio bass & treble settings, search, print, zoom, rotate, convert/save images, add image effects, and much more!

The new 4.5 version includes:

-- New Image Effects editor! Enhance your images with 12 cool effects such as Blur, Sharpen, Brightness, Contrast, Color Levels, and more!

-- Image editing is never done to the original file, so all editing and export saves are non-destructive.

-- Images can now be exported in various file formats such as JPEG, PNG, PICT, TIFF, and more!

-- Refined several UI elements, plus dozens of minor bug fixes and improvements.

Additional Product Information:
http://www.ebutterfly.com/stimulus/

Free Demo Download Available:
http://www.ebutterfly.com/stimulus/downloads.php

Pricing:
For a limited time only, purchase a single user license for only $9.95 US -- that's 50% off (regularly $19.95). Stimulus 4.5 is a free update for all registered Stimulus customers.

Labels: images, media browser, music, photos, video

Electric Butterfly, Inc. proudly announces the immediate availability of HelpLogic 1.6, the award-winning help authoring solution for Mac OS X developers.

Easily create help systems for your software and web sites from a single source! HelpLogic's innovative design removes the development headaches usually associated with help authoring, providing an ideal solution for Mac software developers, web site designers, and documentation writers. Save time with the integrated Workshop, Visual TOC Builder, HTML Editor, and Link Manager to quickly generate Web-based Help, Apple Help, Microsoft HTML Help, UniHelp, and PDF.

This new 1.6 version includes several new enhancements, minor bug fixes, and an improved HTML Editor with lots of cool new features! This recommended update is a free upgrade for all existing HelpLogic customers. And if you're not yet a customer, download the free trial of HelpLogic and take it for a test drive! A single user license of HelpLogic (Mac OS X Edition) is only $99.00 US.

Download Now:
http://www.ebutterfly.com/helplogic/

Best Regards,
Dave Wooldridge
Electric Butterfly, Inc.
http://www.ebutterfly.com

Labels: developer, development tool, help author, help system, HTML, PDF, XML

Electric Butterfly, Inc. proudly announces the release of WSL-Amazon 2.1, the award-winning, cross-platform REALbasic class library for accessing Amazon Web Services. Version 2.1 provides several new methods and properties, as well as compatibility with REALbasic 2008 and 2009 releases.

In celebration of WSL-Amazon's 5 year anniversary, save 50% off the new 2.1 version! For a limited time only, the Component License is only $25.00 US (regularly $49.00) and the Source Code License is only $149.00 US (regularly $299.00).

Easily Integrate Amazon Web Services into Your REALbasic Applications! This HTTPSocket subclass wraps the Amazon Web Services ECS 4.0 API into an easy-to-use library of 38 powerful methods and 167 properties with support for their US, UK, German, French, Canadian, and Japanese Amazon stores. Includes extensive search and information retrieval capabilities, plus the ability to create, update and checkout Amazon shopping carts -- all from within your REALbasic applications! This class library also comes with the project source code for a fully-functional Amazon-powered application, which you can reuse in your own REALbasic projects!

Even though REALbasic supports XML and SOAP, the extensive API of Amazon Web Services can seem daunting and extremely time-consuming to implement. WSL-Amazon changes all that with optimized, object-oriented REALbasic classes that wrap this large API into time-saving methods and properties. No knowledge of XML or SOAP is needed! WSL-Amazon provides an easy-to-use REALbasic framework for easily accessing Amazon Web Services.

DOWNLOAD THE FREE DEMO:
http://www.ebutterfly.com/rb/wslamazon.php

LICENSING OPTIONS:

COMPONENT LICENSE -- ON SALE: $25.00 (US)
Purchase a single seat license to download the encrypted WSL-Amazon classes. The Component License includes (1) Single Incident Support Plan and allows you to use the encrypted WSL-Amazon classes in your compiled REALbasic applications Royalty-Free! Buy Online:
http://www.ebutterfly.com/rb/wslamazon.php

SOURCE CODE LICENSE -- ON SALE $149.00 (US)
Purchase a single seat license to download the full source code of the WSL-Amazon classes. Having access to the source code will allow you to customize the existing features to best suit your specific application needs. The Source Code License includes (1) Single Incident Support Plan Plan and allows you to use the WSL-Amazon classes in your compiled REALbasic applications Royalty-Free! Buy Online:
http://www.ebutterfly.com/rb/wslamazon.php
 
REQUIREMENTS:
-- REALbasic 2006r3 or higher.
-- An Amazon Access Key ID.
-- Compatible with Mac OS X, Microsoft Windows, and Linux.

Labels: amazon, realbasic, web services, XML

HelpLogic (Mac OS X Edition) is by far our best-selling software product. While we've sold hundreds of HelpLogic licenses to Mac users world-wide, unfortunately the Windows version has not fared as well. For example, we only sold 4 licenses for the HelpLogic (Windows Edition) in 2008. And even in earlier years, the Mac version was outselling the Windows version by a huge margin of 70 to 1.

When we originally released the first HelpLogic 1.0 on Mac OS X, we had no intention at that time to develop HelpLogic for Windows, since the Windows market was already saturated with dozens of established help authoring tools (such as RoboHelp, Doc-To-Help, Help & Manual, etc.) But after many requests from Windows developers, we eventually decided to take the plunge into the Windows help authoring market. Unfortunately, the gamble did not pay off. The consistently poor sales of HelpLogic (Windows Edition) has not only made it challenging to justify the continued development of the Windows version, but in this current global recession, it is also taking valuable resources and time away from developing our flagship product, HelpLogic (Mac OS X Edition).

With this in mind, we have made the difficult decision to discontinue HelpLogic (Windows Edition). In the coming weeks, we'll be releasing the new HelpLogic 1.6 for both Mac OS X and Windows, but that will be the last major version released for Windows. Later this year, HelpLogic 2.0 will only be released on Mac OS X.

WHAT DOES THIS MEAN FOR OUR WINDOWS CUSTOMERS?

The forthcoming HelpLogic 1.6 will be the last major version released for Windows, which includes several enhancements and bug fixes. While we will not be selling any new licenses for HelpLogic (Windows Edition), we will continue to provide customer support and assistance for our existing Windows customers. Since all HelpLogic licenses are cross-platform, we encourage you to make the free switch to HelpLogic (Mac OS X Edition). You can use your Windows HelpLogic serial number to unlock/register the Mac version of HelpLogic!

WHAT DOES THIS MEAN FOR OUR MAC CUSTOMERS?

With our focus now dedicated to HelpLogic (Mac OS X Edition), our Mac users will benefit from more frequent updates, as well as the addition of more Mac-centric interface elements and tighter integration with Mac OS X technologies in future HelpLogic releases.

We greatly value all of our customers, so if you have any questions or feedback about this new direction, please do not hesitate to contact us at Customer Support.

Best Regards,
Dave Wooldridge
Electric Butterfly, Inc.
http://www.ebutterfly.com

Labels: help author, sales, support, Windows

Electric Butterfly announces the immediate availability of UniHelp 4.0, a major new version of the award-winning help system for REALbasic. UniHelp provides an easy-to-use, feature-rich solution for REALbasic developers who want to add online help to their cross-platform applications (Mac OS X, Microsoft Windows, and Linux).

Product Information and Download:
http://www.ebutterfly.com/rb/unihelp.php

A free update for all registered UniHelp customers, Version 4.0 includes the following new features and enhancements:

-- New refined user interface!
-- New History list menu.
-- New optional Print feature.
-- New Text Size buttons for adjusting the UI text size.
-- New TOC Collapse & Expand buttons.
-- New navigation Up & Down arrow buttons.
-- New Full Text Searches option.
-- New Highlighted Search Matches option.
-- Optimized error handling and improved performance.


Licensing Options:

FREEWARE VERSION -- FREE!
You may use the encrypted UniHelp classes in your NON-COMMERCIAL and FREEWARE compiled REALbasic applications Royalty-Free. The Freeware version does NOT include support of any kind.

COMPONENT LICENSE -- only $49.00 (US)
You may use the encrypted UniHelp classes in your COMMERCIAL and SHAREWARE compiled REALbasic applications Royalty-Free. This license includes one (1) Single Incident Support Plan and access to a special UniHelp Edition of HelpLogic for quickly creating UniHelp compatible help pages.

SOURCE CODE LICENSE -- only $399.00 (US)
For the first time ever, we're offering a Source Code License for UniHelp, one of the most popular components in the REALbasic community since 2001. If you've ever wanted to learn how to parse XML, search XML via XQL/XPath, enhance HTMLViewer functionality, maintain a browser history, and much more, then seeing how its all implemented in UniHelp's source code will prove to a be great reference! Having source code access will also allow you to customize UniHelp on a much deeper level for your specific needs within your REALbasic applications (Royalty-Free). For a limited time, purchase a UniHelp Source Code License and receive a FREE license to the FULL EDITION of HelpLogic (a $99 value).

UniHelp Customers:
If you already own a UniHelp Component License and wish to upgrade to a Source Code License, please inquire about our special upgrade pricing!
http://www.ebutterfly.com/rb/support.php

HelpLogic Users:
For those customers who use HelpLogic to generate your UniHelp pages, we'll be releasing a new HelpLogic version next week that includes publishing support for the new UniHelp 4.0 features.

Labels: developer, help author, help system, HTML, realbasic, XML