Ted's idea worth spreading on app source

I know that i have not been keeping up with the site like i prommised but here is a video that creativly explains design in different perspective.

Jobs would be proud of our youth

Before i continue to write on apps, I must state a few things:

• This blog site is no longer for a grade so i I will post blogs lest often and more sporadic.
• I will continue with my teachings of how to make an app. like i promised.
• Although I no longer have Eric and Jessica to check my work, I will still try and keep it organized the slang  to a minimum.
• I want to thank you for reading our posts!

 Bryan's bulletins 





If jobs knew that their would be an ipod or ipad for every kid in school it would make him very happy. On that note I recently started watching TED Videos and i came across this video. This video inspired me on multiple levels. First if a kid that age can make and app then so can we. Second,Thomas Suarez ,with his app club, is essential doing what this blog is made to do, which is to teach how to make an app. The program that he was discussing was another eye opening program. The ipod pilot program is still in the testing phases from the date they have collected it shows that it dramatically increases test scores with most kids and decreases test scores with kids that have disabilities. There are pros and cons to this program but hopefully it gets passed as the kinks get eliminated. Again if this is what the future hold then it would make Jobs very happy.
-Have a amazing Xmas and good luck with finals

Stories behind the Apps

"Apple provides the canvas to paint on, now it is just time to make our masterpiece."

It is incredible to think of the thousands of moving parts behind every 'tap' to access a single app.  Developers agree that Apple has designed the most beautiful, mature, and sophisticated platform that takes the effort and worry out of the function so they can focus on design.

Companies like Pandora tried for months to get their program 'just right', but could never seem to find the right platform that provided the right amount of ease and maneuverability.  That is until Apple opened their AppStore.  Described as a night and day difference from other platforms, Apple has the maturity, sophistication, and elegance that any developer could work with.  The world's leader in content creation Apps, Callaway Arts & Entertainment, believes that Apple lays the tools for App development but the developers must pick them up and use them.

Click the link below to view the video montage of App Developers briefly tell their story and the capabilities provided by Apple and its products:

http://developer.apple.com/videos/iphone/profiles/#video-behindtheapps

Eric's Picks: Number 1!

Here it is folks. Cut the Rope is the best game in the App Store!

Buy: $0.99 - Cut the Rope

1. Cut the Rope
A mysterious package arrives at the door. Inside is Om Nom, an adorable little green monster. This monster is hungry and like every child, wants to be fed with candy. To get the candy to Om Nom, players must cut ropes connected to the candy. The game currently has 9 different boxes. Each contains 25 levels with a specific theme. Challenges include collecting three strategically placed stars and getting the candy to Om Nom. Spiders, magic hats, saws, bubbles, and many other obstacles will do their best to get in the way. The physics in this game are incredible. This makes it hard to position the candy precisely to complete each level. The controls are simple and accurate. With new boxes being added all the time, the game never gets old. It is possible to complete every level with 3 stars. I have done it. If players get stuck on a level, there is a feature that allows skipping levels. This gives player to freedom to move on without being frustrated for months. Cut the Rope is the best game on the App Store right now. The sequel, Cut the Rope: Experiments, is now available in the app store. Check out the trailer below and be sure to purchase this game!

Eric's Picks: Top 5 Games

I have played many games in the past year on my iTouch. Apple has opened up a new platform for games since the first iTouch was created. There are so many game, utility, entertainment, and education apps available for purchase. Today I am sharing my favorite top 5 games. These games are challenging, frustrating, wacky, original, but most of all fun.

Buy: $0.99 - Mirror's Edge

5. Mirror’s Edge

Mirror's Edge, originally a first person platformer available for home gaming consoles, has been reimagined for a whole new adventure on  iOS devices. The main character, Faith, is a runner who is trying to prevent the "perfect society" from stopping the flow of information. Players jump off buildings, run up walls, and most importantly kick ass. The game is inspired by parkour, overcoming obstacles with speed and efficiency. Mirror's Edge has a distinct style which looks incredible. The game contains 6 chapters and can be completed in a couple hours. It becomes quite repetitive after jumping between millions buildings. The controls are solid and the soundtrack goes with the game well. Fans of the original game will love the new adventure as much as I did. New players will like the simplicity and visual appeal. 

Buy: $2.99 - World of Goo

4. World of Goo
This Tim Burton esque game is one of my all time favorites. The game is as strange as it sounds. Players use millions of "delicious" goo balls to create towers, bridges, and other structures to navigate the terrain and obstacles. These goo balls are trying to reach a pipe which sucks them away to the World of Goo Corporation. This is where they are made into numerous products, like energy drinks. The game is made up of 5 chapters, that contain many levels. There are many types of goo balls, each with a special ability. Every level has its own soundtrack and unique graphical design. The objective of every level is to collect a certain amount of unused goo balls for the Corporation. Excess goo becomes available to use in a sandbox mode. People all over the world compete here to build the largest goo tower.World of Goo is one of the best apps available. Check out the trailer here, World of Goo Trailer, to really understand how unique this game is.

Buy: $2.99 - Plants vs Zombies

3. Plants vs. Zombies

ZOMBIES! They are invading the lawn, backyard, roof, and any other vulnerable surface of your house. Their mission is to eat your brains! Luckily, the plants are ready to fight back. These plants use special abilities to block, freeze, throw watermelons, even eat zombies. In order to plant the plants, players must collect sunlight from sunflowers or the actual sun. The better ability of the plant, the more sunlight is needed. When the night falls, it becomes more difficult to defend your house. Sunlight to use for defending plants is only produced by sunflowers and fog rolls in. Each level takes place in a different area around the house. Zombies arrive in waves and the plants do their best to defend the home. Each time a level is won, money is awarded. This can be used towards a bunch of extras from Crazy Dave's car. There are plenty of mini games, achievements, and extra plants to be bought after adventure mode. The $2.99 price is an incredible deal for this game.  Be prepared to fight to the death. Zombies are coming, are you ready?

Buy: $0.99 - Tiny Wings

2. Tiny Wings

This poor little fellow has little wings that prevent him from flying. His dream is to fly! How can we help him? Well, there are bunch of hills around. He can use them to get a jump start on flying! The objective of this game to help Tiny Wings jump from hill to hill and island to island. When the sun rises it is time to fly. Players hold the screen down as he slides down each hill and let go when he goes up. Pesky gravity will pull him down, forcing players to perfect his landing and so he jump closer to the clouds. As Tiny Wings jumps from hill to hill, he eats mini suns to rack up points and gains boosts of speed from blue orbs. Tiny Wings flies to multiple islands, each with varying hill shapes. There are achievements that keep Tiny Wings from becoming repetitive. They challenge player to hold the device upside down, reach island 9, or earn so many points. One cool feature of this app is that the color of the hills change every day. Try to fly as far as possible. Night is looming and Tiny Wings will go to bed once it arrives.

What's number 1? Well you will have to tune in tomorrow to find out!

Fellow Student Finds Success in the Android Market

Here at App-Source we have kept our focus on Apple and its products.  Today I would like to look into the Android Market- Google’s answer to Apple’s App Store.  Google has stated from the start that the vision for Android Market is to attract developers as well as users. Such was the reasoning in choosing the term “market” over “store.” Android Market is not so much a store run by Google but a market made to bring together app developers and Android OS phone users.  


One such developer is a fellow information systems and decision sciences major here at Cal State Fullerton, Jared Rummler.  Jared, known as jrummy16 in the Android Market, began making applications and ROMs less than a year ago.  His ROMs and apps mainly focus on improving a phone’s performance.  Some of his apps, such as Android Overclock, require rooting, similar to jailbreaking on the iPhone.  The process known as rooting allows users to break past the barriers set by phone manufacturers, allowing them to improve their phone’s performance. 

By the end of 2009, the applications available on Android Market had grown to over 20,000. This number put it ahead of Windows Mobile Market but still far behind the iPhone App Store at 100,000 applications. Some say that many of the App Store’s 100,000 applications are only duplicates of already existing applications and they serve only to make it more difficult to wade through for the average consumer.  Android app developers, no matter the country, do have one advantage over iPhone app developers and that is the fact that distribution of Android apps is not limited to Android Market. iPhone apps can only be distributed and purchased through App Store, but Google allows Android Apps to be distributed from any source, so many developers make Android apps available on their own website or on secondary Android application websites.  


Jared Rummler’s Rom Toolbox Pro is currently number 20 in the Top Paid in Tools section on the Android Market and is priced at $5 per download.  He also has three apps in the top 50 of the Paid in Productivity section, including Android Overclock and App Manager Pro, his latest release priced at $2.99.  A free version, but limited App Manager is also available for download on the Android Market.  Find their apps at Market.Android.com/developer?pub=JRummy16 or type jrummy16 into the search section of the market.


http://www.dailytitan.com/2011/10/10/apps-for-the-future/

Graphic Halloween Horror!

                      

Halloween has always been my favorite holiday, besides Christmas. When I think of Halloween, I think of guts, blood and zombies. For some Halloween is a time of thrills and indulging on suppressed desires (like eating a lot of unhealthy candy). However, it is also a time when inner creativity is praised. For that reason this week I want to explain the importance of having superior graphics in your apps. What's more graphic then blood, guts, and zombies? Even though we are still far from the designing process, I thought we could look at the basic of graphics. So why are these designs important? Bottom line is they make more money. Even if you are not the most artistic person, it is easy to admit that a nice picture will attract you more. Without much effort into buying an app, people will judge the app by the description, ratings and pictures.

As I said before, a majority of the top selling apps have top notch graphics and are have creative ideas. Since its Halloween, lets look at some Halloween themed apps for examples. There is an app called the zombie booth. The app uses your photos to create a 3 dimensional zombie from the picture. This app is a creative example of using high quality graphics. Although it does not allow for a lot of creativity to the user, it does allow you to change aspects of the zombie. Last year, the publishers made a huge business mistake of releasing their app right after Halloween. However, I give them kudos for making it easy to record and upload videos to multiple social websites directly from the app. Free advertising is always a plus in my book!

A great Halloween app will allow users to be creative as well. This is where  Halloween card creator comes in. This gives you custom design. This is what people want. It is less interesting since it is a card creator but it isn't always about the idea but about how it is implemented. An ironic fact is you can make you app better with these other apps. There are a few apps that are free and can help you create some amazing graphics.  Although though my tips where focused on Halloween themed apps, they can be applied to all apps.

In conclusion, plot out every detail of your app. Releasing apps on certain days can change how well you do. The majority of top sellers allow for creativity in their apps and  have high quality graphics. Social Networks are a source of free advertising. There are many free apps that allow for your graphics to become better. Many people still judge a book by its cover so make the cover amazing.

Happy Halloween everyone!