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- GroceryIQ 2: Shopping in the Cloud
I wrote a review of GroceryIQ just over a year ago and I have continued to use it frequently. The new GroceryIQ 2 expands on the original concept by taking advantage of the power of a connected mobile device that can tap into the cloud. These significant improvements have pushed the app from “frequently used” to “indispensable” on my own iPhone. I’ll run down the features for you and then share some comments from the developer on how the cloud and the iPhone have come together to create great software.
What’s New in Version 2
The big update in version 2 is list syncing between multiple iPhones. In practice, this feature is incredibly valuable. Whenever my wife updates the list with something that we need, I get a push notification that something has been added to GroceryIQ. When I get to the store, I open the app and it quickly syncs my lists so that I am sure to not miss something we need. In addition, my wife instantly benefited from the effort I had put in to organize the aisles to match the layout of our store as well as the history and favorite items that I use to quickly build shopping lists.
GroceryIQ 2 also adds some features related to its acquisition by Coupons.com. You can find coupons on your iPhone and print them straight from the phone to a supported HP printer. I have a Canon printer so I use the email option to send the list of coupons I selected on the iPhone and print them from my computer. The list categories show logos for items that have coupons available as another reminder.
The gee-whiz feature in this release is barcode scanning to add items to your shopping list. You take a picture of the barcode using the iPhone camera and it will look up the item and add it to your list.
Frankly, I love this app because it actually makes shopping easier than using pencil and paper.
Jason Boehle from Coupons.com
I spent a little time catching up Jason Boehle from Coupons.com to talk about how the 2.0 release came about and how technology has made the simple task of making a shopping list even better.
Tell me about how you decided on the feature list for Version 2.
List sharing between devices has been a big request by users and was part of the original vision for Grocery iQ 1.0. We’re pleased to finally deliver it to our loyal customers. The new couponing features are another exciting addition to Grocery iQ and allow our customers to easily find coupons and savings directly related to what they're shopping for. Barcode scanning is an incredibly useful feature for list building that many customers have requested, and we delivered one of the best barcode scanning experiences on the iPhone.
How is list sharing implemented?
List sharing is implemented using secure web services on the proven Coupons.com high-availability infrastructure. Apple’s push notification service is used to get list updates to your phone in real-time, while still taking it easy on device battery life. In addition to sharing a list between multiple devices, single devices can use the service as an online “backup” of their Grocery iQ data. One of the coolest things about doing all of the list sharing in the cloud is that we're able to leverage this work to implement web-based list editing and sharing to devices as well as sync lists between other versions of Grocery iQ on other mobile platforms like Android, etc.
How does printing direct from the iPhone work?
We worked closely with HP to enable coupon printing directly from the iPhone to HP printers connected to wireless networks. In addition to loading coupons directly to your store savings cards, this is another feature that enables our customers who are away from their PC to still save money using Grocery iQ. The coupon printing feature is another example of highly leveraged work that is available in our Coupons.com iPhone app in addition to Grocery iQ. It also makes use of cloud-based services for all of the imaging and assembly of the retail-ready coupons.
How did the trend towards using cloud services impact the development of GroceryIQ 2?
The “cloud” has helped to enable all these new features in Grocery iQ 2.0. List sharing, coupon display, printing, and even barcode scanning all benefit from the power of a very sophisticated web service infrastructure. For example, we have an incredibly rich on-device product database which we use for barcode scanning and lookup. However, if we don't find the product you just scanned in our on-device database we have the full power and extensibility of a web service that will search many other online databases to locate the item.
A cloud-connected device enables a whole host of scenarios. For example, your significant other can add items to your shared shopping list, load coupons to your savings card, and then send you to the store on your way home from work—and even make changes while you are there by scanning a snack box because the kids just finished it off. The built-in database enables a detailed shopping list, so you can be sure you’re getting the right items, and when you checkout, and the coupons are automatically applied when you swipe your savings card. Welcome to the digital age of grocery shopping!
Grocery Shopping Made Better
I know some of you may be wondering why I spilled this much digital ink on a grocery list app. Let me tell you, I use this app at least once a week and the list sharing features have really helped my wife and I keep up with the shopping demands of our large family. It really is better than keeping a paper list at home.
I also think that Jason’s comments about the cloud services that are leveraged in the iPhone app are important for the future of the platform. I think the next wave of iPhone development will show a lot of innovation in taking simple concepts that worked great in software and improving them by reexamining what is possible with a mobile device that is always connected to the cloud with push notifications. GroceryIQ is a great example of a cloud-connected app done right.
Переслать - Final Fantasy I and II Now Available for iPhone
I like it when companies port their old games to the iPhone platform, even when the results are somewhat less than amazing. Aside from being the best way to convince your somewhat technophobe friends that the iPhone and iPod touch are totally worth buying, they also allow me to indulge in some pleasant gaming nostalgia during my commute or whenever I have a spare moment.Even though I have played them both many times before, I have no doubt that I’ll enjoy playing through Final Fantasy I and II once again now that they’re available on the iPhone. Square Enix ported both titles to Apple’s App Store, now available for $8.99 a piece.
Now whether or not you’re willing to pay $9 for these classic titles may depend on how many times you’ve played through them in the past, and on how many different platforms. Versions of the games have appeared on the NES, GameBoy Advance, PSP, PlayStation, DS and Wii. Some of the newer ports featured extra levels and bonus content, which are included in the new iPhone versions, so if you haven’t played them lately, you might have good reason to take another spin.The new iPhone versions also offer much-improved avatar designs and better sprites, though the story and gameplay mechanics remain unchanged. As someone who’s never not enjoyed playing through a classic Square title, I’m not too worried about becoming bored or being underwhelmed. By the same token, I know exactly what I’m in for, so there’s not likely to be any surprises coming my way.
I’m mostly just hoping that my purchase in this instance encourages Square Enix to continue releasing its classic titles for the platform. I don’t think it’s too impossible to imagine a time when Final Fantasy VII and VIII are available as fully ported iPad titles. And some more original content would be nice, too. Song Summoner is great, as far as tactics games go, but I’d love an original Square Enix RPG title for the iPhone platform that uses the device’s specific capabilities in a similarly innovative fashion.
A cursory attempt at playing the new games reveals some finicky, context-based controls that take a little getting used to, but eventually don’t really take anything away from the experience, though they certainly don’t add to it. As with most iPhone games, you do get the advantage of having the app auto-save your progress on exit so that you can quickly resume without having to return to a save point or something equally annoying. Like I said above, very few surprises here, but if you’re a fan of the series, there’s probably nothing I can say to either convince or prevent you from buying this.
Переслать - More on Apple's Billions: This Time, It's iTunes
Billions and billions. It's a theme that has accompanied me all week. In fact, I imagine I know a little how Carl Sagan must have felt. After writing about Apple's billions just a few days ago, here I am again — but this time it's not data centers and custom silicon — it's music.We reported here back in early February that Apple was running its 10 Billion Song Countdown Contest. Yesterday afternoon, as Steve Jobs was (probably not) blowing out the fifty five candles on his birthday cake, the odometer stopped when, according to The Loop, Louie Sulcer of Woodstock, Georgia, downloaded Guess Things Happen That Way by Johnny Cash.
The download likely earned Johnny Cash the usual pittance in royalties, while Sulcer became the lucky recipient of a $10,000 iTunes Gift Card from Apple.
Naturally, I'm insanely jealous.
Milestone
Apple is understandably keen to celebrate the milestone. The iTunes Store first opened for business in April 2003 with a little over 200,000 items available for sale. Almost seven years later, the iTunes Store boasts more than 12 million songs, 55,000 TV episodes and 8,500 movies. In April 2008, it ranked as the number one (legal) online music seller in the United States.
10 billion songs in seven years is really something — in fact, my calculator tells me it's a touch more than one song downloaded every second of every minute, day and night, since the store was launched. People with better math skills than me can (and most certainly will) take great pleasure correcting me in the comments below. The point is, my clumsy calculations notwithstanding, the iTunes Store is big business. In fact, it must be a big, fat, cash cow for Apple, right?
True Purpose
Well, as it happens, no, it's not a big, fat, cash cow. It's more like a well-fed, contented heifer. It certainly makes a good deal of money; according to one analyst it generated revenue of $520 million in the last quarter alone.
However, Apple's CFO Peter Oppenheimer told analysts during an earnings call last month that the store wasn't "a real money maker." Our own Darrell Etherington wrote here about declining music sales which have undoubtedly had an affect on Apple's earnings recently. And as far back as May last year I wrote about the problem of variable pricing in the iTunes Store. Only a few weeks ago Warner Music Group announced the news (already completely obvious to everyone except music industry executives) that iTunes music sales had slowed since higher prices were introduced. (Honestly, when will the old-school music industry just shut up and admit defeat?)
So the iTunes Store might be pushing huge numbers in digital downloads (10 billion songs, three billion apps and counting) but the revenue it generates is decidedly small-frys. So why run it?
Well, it's not a loss-maker by any means, and besides, Apple claims profit isn't the purpose for the iTunes Store. Oppenheimer said during his earnings call:
Regarding the App Store and the iTunes stores, we are running those a bit over break even and that hasn't changed. We are very excited to be providing our developers with a fabulous opportunity and we think that is helping us a lot with the iPhone and the iPod touch platform.
As far as Apple is concerned, the iTunes Store exists as a mechanism for selling its hardware. iPods enjoy seamless integration with iTunes. As a relatively inexpensive software publishing and delivery platform for iPhones and iPod touches, third-party app developers (almost) couldn't ask for more.
Defense Tactic
The whole "a bit over break even" business is probably preferable over a service that is wildly profitable. Think about it; Apple's super-success with the iPod, the iPhone & iPod touch and, presumably, with the upcoming iPad, translates into an awful lot of people around the world using iTunes (and the iTunes Store) all the time, every single day. My own clunky math above tells me this already happens, but we’re talking about this intense activity steadily increasing as the iPhone continues to dominate and the iPad begins to make waves.
As Apple's hardware sales soar, and as more and more of its hardware ships with, or depends upon, iTunes software and services in some shape or form, the bitter cries of "anti-competitive" and "monopoly" from major competitors will grow louder.
That the iTunes Store is not a means to print its own money gives Apple the ability to play its "But It's Not Very Profitable For Us" card when the threat of antitrust inquiries looms (and oh boy will it loom). It might not be strong enough a defense to save it from unsavory intervention by the law courts (particularly those in Europe, which can't help but interfere with successful businesses) but it certainly can't do it any harm.
It’s ironic, really; when the iTunes Store launched it was lambasted by critics certain it had no chance at success. Of course, those criticisms have since proved unfounded, yet today it seems Apple is in an awkward place, and paying a price for its success.
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