Marketing Ramp Champ on the App Store

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Marco Arment, the lead developer of Tumblr and creator of Instapaper, wrote a great article on how the App Store is really two different stores. He doesn’t say it, but it’s really Wal-Mart and L.L. Bean in the same store. One is focused on low prices and volume while the other is focused on quality.

Marco uses Ramp Champ as an excellent case study in how to approach these two stores. Shortly after this article was published, Gedeon Maheux and the team at Iconfactory updated Ramp Champ’s description and images in the App Store. I’m not a fan of the way they choose to update the images. The compositions they choose look good within iTunes.

But, they reduce the level of detail potential buyers are able to see. The Iconfactory put a lot of effort into their art and now with the revised images which are collages of different screenshots, they’re short-selling that work. It gets even worse than that when viewing the new images on the iPhone.

Screenshot collages are often painful to view on the device

Screenshot collages are often painful to view on the device

The Iconfactory should go back to using full screenshots to display their artwork. But, taking the advice that Marco laid out in his article, they must pay more attention to the order their screens appear in. Clown Town is easily the most reminiscent of Skee-ball and carnival games of this sort and should get top billing rather than the ramp select screen as in the past.

Clown Town should be Ramp Champ's primary screenshot

Clown Town should be Ramp Champ's primary screenshot

The first two ramps in Ramp Champ are definitely the most visually appealing and evocative of the carnival aesthetic – and I bet Iconfactory planned this. So, it’s definitely Breakwater Bay that should come second. To the shoppers in the App Store, seeing a second ramp would reinforce the variety that Ramp Champ has over Skee-ball and other games.

Breakwater Bay is also bright and colorful – providing contrast to Clown Town

Breakwater Bay is also bright and colorful – providing contrast to Clown Town

Now it is time to let the audience know about the hooks to the game. Why would they want to play it for more than a day or two? Because they get to redeem their tickets for cool loot!

Loot worked for World of Warcraft

Loot worked for World of Warcraft

OK, so they can cash in their tickets for loot. But, what if they’re looking for some more meaningful rewards? Show them the trophies they can get for different achievements on the various ramps.

Maybe they should get this shot from someone that's better at the game

Maybe they should get this shot from someone that's better at the game

What if they really want a game that they can come back to weeks or months later? The deeper the potential customer goes through the screenshots before making a decision probably correlates well with how deep they want to be able to go within the game. So, the final screenshot is when Ramp Champ should prove it is in it to win it.

Extend your play as you need to – for less than a real Skee-ball game

Extend your play as you need to – for less than a game of real Skee-ball

A tip for first-time iPhone buyers

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Here’s a tip for new iPhone users that will save your screen and also save you some cash. I was able to use my original iPhone for over a year and a half without a scratch. And the screen on my iPhone 3GS is pristine but I never use a case or a screen protector.

Always put your iPhone in your left pocket (with the screen facing in) and your keys in your right pocket. I’m not sure what makes the iPhone’s screen prone to scratching by keys when dropping it face-down onto asphalt doesn’t have an effect, but they do. I got one scratch on my original iPhone’s screen after owning it for over a year and a half this way. So, always keep your iPhone separated from your keys.

This is especially good advice for someone that just bought an iPhone 3GS since it has an oleophobic screen. This makes the screen resist oil from fingers or faces. In fact, on the rare occasion when I do notice fingerprints on mine, all I have to do it put it in my pocket and the next time I pull it out there isn’t a trace of them remaining. Placing a sheet of plastic over a screen this nice is a shame.

The reason why I always keep my iPhone in my left pocket is so that it doesn’t ever bang against the steering wheel as I enter and exit my car. People living in England, India, or other places where they drive on the wrong side of the road should switch pockets… or countries.

iPhone OS 3.0.1 released, quickly addresses SMS flaw

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If you have an iPhone, update it today. If you don’t have an iPhone, well, I already feel sorry for you…

iPhone OS 3.0.1 already released, addresses SMS flaw – Ars Technica

The vulnerability was first revealed in June by Miller and University of Milan student Vincenzo Iozzo, who said that they planned to reveal the flaw during Black Hat in July. That week has arrived, with Miller and Mulliner demonstrating a “non-malicious” exploit for the SMS bug. This issue did not only affect iPhones—it affected a number of Windows Mobile, Android, and other GSM phones as well. The iPhone was one of the higher-profile devices on the list, however, meaning that all eyes were on Apple to release an update—and fast.

How to remove icons from your menu bar

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When you first start using your Mac, you may have quite a few items in your menu bar. I don’t feel the need for the Bluetooth or Input menu items and I prefer an uncluttered look, so I’ll remove them. But how do you do that?

You can easily remove any of these icons you don't need.

You can easily remove any of these icons you don't need.

There’s nothing in each one’s menu to allow you to remove them and there aren’t easy to find settings for them in System Preferences (though, they are usually scattered around there). If you want to remove one, just hold down the ⌘ (Command) key and drag it out of the menu bar. Lift your finger to stop dragging once you’re clear of the menu bar and poof it’s gone. This is similar to how you can drag icons out of your Dock  – only with that you don’t need to hold down the option key.

Which iPhone 3.0 software features does my iPhone support?

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All iPhones get a free update to iPhone 3.0, even the original iPhone, but some features are only available on newer hardware including the iPhone 3GS. So, you may be wondering why some features you’ve seen aren’t showing up on your phone. Thankfully, Apple has published a support document titled iPhone: Which iPhone 3.0 software features does my iPhone support? that lists the iPhone OS 3.0 feature and capability differences across iPhone models.

Extreme typing challenge pits iPhone vs. netbook

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When I saw this video I knew that I had to post it. I hear some people lament the fact that the iPhone doesn’t have a hard keyboard on it. To me, the virtual keyboard was a huge selling point (primarily because I hate typing on hard, sharp, and tiny keys) and this video shows why it is better for a mobile device.

Our challenge was pretty simple: hop into the passenger seat alongside 14-time European Rallycross champion Kenneth Hansen, hurtle around Lydden racetrack in Dover, England, and attempt to type, “The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog”–a pangram, or holoalphabetic sentence containing every letter of the alphabet–onto each device.

via Video: Xtreme typing challenge pits iPhone vs. Netbook | Crave – CNET.

TidBITS Safe Computing: Five Tips for Reading Mac Security Stories

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The need for computer security long ago passed from a minor annoyance to something that could affect our personal and financial safety. Just as disasters, crime, and tales of tragedy tend to dominate the news, stories of information security failures never fail to grab the headlines. When it’s a story with the potential to smear a media darling like Apple, you can bet the article will be right up there next to the latest celebrity embarrassment. But with a little consideration of these five tips, you can evaluate the reality level of any given security story.

via TidBITS Safe Computing: Five Tips for Reading Mac Security Stories.