No matter what anybody says, we’re pretty sure the “S” in iPhone 3G S stands for “Surprise”. Technically speaking, it’s the 3.0 upgrade in conjunction with the 3G S release that we’re so excited about. iPhone 3.0 now includes an in-app purchasing tool, which makes it easier for application developers to increase sales.

The in-app tool is something mobile game makers were looking forward to for quite some time. Till now, these companies could charge just a one-time fee for every game they developed. But now they can charge in steps, and they can sell additional products and advanced versions of the games to the players. Naturally, plans are on to increase the number of games being developed.

With the help of this feature, users can make purchases using iPhone apps more easily, and consequently, developers stand to profit more from their efforts. Although this might change later, this feature is currently available only for paid apps.

The excitement has spread among various other mobile apps providers. Newspapers and authors, who are eager to sell their works in installments rather than in entirety, are a case in point. It seems to be a win-win situation for all, as Apple, iPhone users, and the app developers all gain from this development. A 70% revenue earning model, with this added advantage, is definitely a big temptation for developing more and more applications. At the same time, users want their smartphones to become even smarter. Of course, to benefit from this, the onus lies on the developers to create a steady stream of compelling new features.

While many developers will strike it rich with increased App Store revenues, the potential for innovation also increases with the prospect of additional sales. Developers will now be willing to launch apps for the costlier genres they’ve avoided till now, as users were not ready to pay so much. With the installments model possible, newer, more innovative options now become available to the developers.

But the moot point is, will users be ready to make additional purchases from applications they’ve already paid for? Watch this space for more on this development.

iPhone is so much more than just a phone; it’s a mobile computer that happens to fit right into your pocket. With 50,000 mobile apps already available in the Apple App Store (with the number growing daily), there’s not much that you cannot do with your iPhone.

Since we’re in the business of developing original iPhone Apps, ranging from business to gaming and utilities, we thought it’d be fun to give you a preview of all that the mighty iPhone is capable of, when you add some innovative third-party apps in the mix.

Here’s a select few that would make your life a whole lot easier:

•    Remote
The iPhone can become a remote control for your computer .This app allows you to pause, fast-forward, rewind a currently playing track or switch to a different playlist altogether.

•    Yelp
If you’re looking for quick information, it helps you find neighborhood restaurants, discos and banks using the iPhone’s built-in GPS. It also offers thousands of reviews from its regular user base. Other similar apps are UrbanSpoon and Vindigo.

•    Parking
This app provides a timer and GPS location tracking, to help you avoid getting a parking ticket.

•    Stanza
If reading is your passion, then Stanza offers you a great solution for your mobile reading needs. You’ll find free classics from a large library of public domain titles. Over 20,000 books have already been downloaded by Stanza users.

•    Pandora
Tired of listening to the same iTunes songs in your library everyday? Pandora provides you with a stream of new songs daily. They are customized according to your personal favorites (songs and artists). Just list your favorites and this app will create customized radio channels according to your taste and preferences.

•    ShoZu
Do you love taking pictures and showing them to the world through Facebook or your blog? ShoZu makes it easy to connect to umpteen online services, and you can post your images on multiple sites with minimum effort.

•    FlightTrack Pro
Another interesting app designed for frequent flyers; it provides real-time flight updates from around the world. It also provides alerts about flight delays and airport closure warnings.

Quite a useful collection, isn’t it?

And oh, did we mention that you can also use the iPhone to make calls?

iPhone 3G is now available at just $99! Wireless experts estimate that the price cut alone may increase demand for the iPhone by at least an extra 10%. The new price will help Apple reach new buyers who are more budget-conscious, and yet want the iPhone experience. According to research conducted by the Yankee Group, the premier technology research and consulting company, 41% of 1,500 Americans surveyed would choose an iPhone over a regular phone as their next mobile device.

As Nielson reports, 40 million people in US alone access their mails through mobile devices… the figure is set to rise even further. This tidbit only proves the scope of mobile marketing. With more and more users logging in through their mobile devices, marketing seems to be the only logical step forward.

The mobile advertising market will be worth $5.7 billion by 2014, and will increasingly be seen as a very important medium for global marketers, predicts analyst firm Juniper Research.

A few more interesting facts and figures that point to an explosive growth of mobile marketing:

•    According to IT Facts 2.3 trillion text messages will be sent and delivered globally by the year 2010.
•    More than 3.1 billion people are using regular mobile phones, which can be tapped for the future iPhone market

According to Airwide Solutions’ survey of 50 major companies,

•    89% of major brands plan to market via mobile phones
•    40% of major brands have deployed text messaging (SMS) campaigns
•    18% of major brands have deployed multimedia messaging (MMS) campaigns

iPhone has had a major role to play in this phenomenon, and it continues to contribute to the growth of mobile marketing. The still untapped market for iPhones is sure to be exploited rapidly with the new revised pricing for iPhone 3G. More and more apps being designed keeping iPhones in mind; there are around 50,000 applications currently available in the iPhone App Store, and the number is growing daily.

According to Evan Neufeld , senior analyst at mobile measurement firm M:Metrics, “No organization or brand can afford to be left behind in the rapidly evolving mobile marketplace, so the most important thing for brands to take away from this report is to start today and begin to realize the potential of this powerful new medium.”

Choosing a suitable content management system (CMS) can be a tricky job. With options galore, the need to trim down the search and zoom in on the perfect content management system for you is very important. Here are a few steps that would ensure that you get what you actually want, rather than fancy functionality which will never be of any use to you.

•    Core functionality
The core tasks consist of creating, deleting, editing and organizing pages, and most people consider that all CMSs provide these by default. But that’s hardly true! There isn’t even a guarantee that such functionality will be presented in an intuitive way. The requirement to structure and organize pages might not arise right now, but in the future. Stay away from any CMS that does not allow you to complete these core tasks. There are thousands of content management systems in the market, and a majority of them offer this functionality. However, they vary in usability. And a thumb rule is to test the system for usability before making a purchase.

•    Managing assets
A CMS managing images and files poorly can frustrate users. One needs to ensure that the selected content management system encourages content providers to add attributes to images. A CMS that provides basic image editing tools, such as cropping, resizing and rotating is always a welcome relief. Lastly, check whether descriptions can be added to the files, and whether the search functions are capable of indexing them.

•    User interaction
Gathering user feedback should be one of your priorities, while you might also require functionality such as chat, forums, comments and ratings. Check out how easy the CMS makes this whole process. Enquire what tools are for communicating with your customers. Also, find out whether you can send email newsletters. How about news feeds and RSS?

•    Multiple website support
Another must-have feature is the ability to run multiple websites. Even if you do not require this facility right now, you might decide to launch a new website in the near future. What with mobile devices being a hot target, the necessity to have a website for mobiles is a strong possibility.

•    Multilingual support
Your website may cater to a local audience, and be language specific; but what’s the harm in thinking big? With your business growing fast, you would have evolving requirements… and being able to accommodate various differences only gives you a significant edge over the rest. But also consider whether you have necessary content for multiple languages; else you would be paying money for something useless!

Other issues like licensing, support, accessibility, security, and training are also high priority. A thumb rule would be to keep requirements at a optimum level while keeping an eye on the future.

A standard question while building a Flex-based website - will this website be search engine friendly? Search engines, popular lore suggests, are unable to see inside Flex websites. And of course, the importance of SEO cannot be overlooked. But rest easy… a few tweaks here and there can make Google crawl your website quite easily. Let’s show you how:

Feeding Flash/ FLEX content to search engine spiders

 ·         If the flash movie or file is embedded using the <embed> or <object> tags, then <noembed> tag can be used to display the content of flash movies to users who don’t have Flash plug in installed. It will also be displayed to the search engine spiders.

 ·         If the flash file is loaded through JavaScript, then the <noscript> tag should display the content.

 ·         The flash file can be loaded within <DIV> tags, with the content within the DIV so that the text is displayed to the users unable to view flash, as well as to the search engines.

 ·         While developing the flash website Flash remoting can be used. In this method, all the content that is supposed to go into a flash movie is put in an XML file. Then it is pulled dynamically to the flash files, instead of directly putting content within the flash movies. This will help the search engines to index the flash content.

 ·         Another option is to put the text in HTML and use the document.write JS in flash to write the text in flash movies. This also allows the Search Engines to index the content within flash movies. Users browsing with flash disabled browsers would still be able to view the content.

 Using Macromedia Flash Search Engine SDK

 Flash search engine SDK (software development kit) is an open source tool from Macromedia that allows search engines to modify flash files. The SDK includes an application named “swf2HTML” which extracts text and links from a Macromedia Flash SWF File and returns the same to an HTML document.

 SDK can inter-operate any links that are in the action script as long as they adhere to the following criteria:

• The link is contained within single (‘ ‘) or double quotes (“ ”)
• The link prefix is HTTP
• The link suffix is SWF, HTML, JPG, WAV or CFM

 SDK, by default will extract the following text from the flash files

• Text on stage in the current movie (dynamic, static or input text that has an initial value assigned)
• Text on stage in a movie that is called with movieClip.attachMovie()

 Hope that answers all your questions. So FLEX your SEO muscles and be easily searchable on Google at the same time!

Recently, Famous Smoke announced the launch of their new Cigar Product Selector featuring the ‘No Refresh’ Rich Internet Application (RIA) technology, delivered by Web Spiders. The Famous Smoke cigar selector allows aficionados and buyers to locate and learn about their favorite Cigars in a highly interactive and exciting online environment. The site, located at www.famous-smoke.com, features Adobe Flex programming.

According to Arthur Zaretsky, CEO of Famous Smoke, “Our new and highly innovative Cigar Selector, developed by our partner Web Spiders, delivers a rich and exciting experience to our consumers. We see this as a means of enhancing our brand and delivering more real online sales from new and repeat customers.”

A Web Spiders representative adds, “By leveraging our ‘No Refresh’ Technology featuring Adobe Flex, we provide Famous Smoke consumers an intuitive and compelling reason to identify the products they wish to purchase and remain on the site… and return for subsequent purchases, delivering true ROI!”

Famous Smoke and Web Spiders, working together, have effectively identified specific user preferences and refined the Product Selector to deliver an ultimate consumer eCommerce experience. Web Spiders’ ‘No Refresh’ technology knowhow, together with Famous Smoke’s intimate knowledge of their product and marketplace, have blended together to create a compelling experience for visitors to the Famous Smoke Online Store.