Friday, January 23, 2009

The Gavel, a 99 cent iPhone app

Stormy Productions has released its first "non-free" app and it is now available for purchase in the iTunes store for 99 cents. The name of the app is "The Gavel." Here is a snippet of its description:


Speak softly and carry a big stick; you will go far.
-West African Proverb

Having trouble keeping order in your meetings? Not receiving the proper level of respect from those around you? Then buy this app! Badger your peers into submission with the constant banging of a judge's gavel or several other thumping items. There's even a Krushchev mode for thumping with a shoe. (Please refer to 1960s political history if you don't know the reference.) And if thumping a virtual shoe at someone doesn't get one's attention, you can always try a real shoe, but this app doesn't include a real shoe. You'll need to supply that yourself.

What this app does include are several virtual items with realistic sound effects: a gavel (in a few different styles), a wooden mallet, a carpenter's hammer, a sledgehammer, a dead fish and more! The attention each item demands will vary depending on the anger in your swing.


There is also a short one minute video demonstrating its usefulness:



Check out the full description in iTunes here.

Friday, January 16, 2009

Over 20 apps!

We now have over twenty iPhone apps available for download in the iTunes App Store! You can see the full list here. Currently, all the apps are for supporting various radio stations, however there are more apps in the pipeline that will do more than just provide streaming audio support.

As for total downloads, the apps have been downloaded over 150,000 times!

Thursday, January 15, 2009

iPhone Development Perspective

On the O'Reilly Inside iPhone blog, there's a very good article speaking to the issues iPhone developers are often facing right now. You can read the full article here.

I found this quote particularly interesting:

I am someone who is highly motivated by ideas. So, it pains me to say that the value of an iPhone application idea right now is pretty much zero. A great idea isn't worth anything under these conditions. There is no shortage of great iPhone ideas, just a shortage of talent to bring these ideas to market.


It sums up a problem I am frequently encountering lately. Someone - a friend or colleague - will come to me saying they have a great idea for an iPhone app and ask me if I'd be interested in working on it. It does indeed pain me to have to tell them, "No, I really am not interested in working on your idea," but that's what I must do. Their idea might truly be a great idea, but there's just not enough time right now for me to spend on other people's ideas when I have my own projects and ideas that are being worked on. I don't want to over-commit my time and not do a good job on something. I try to write excellent software - something I can always be proud of. I don't want to have to settle for "good enough" and just try to churn out projects as quickly as possible.

Friday, January 2, 2009

Office closed until January 5th

Sorry for this late update - I had meant to post this earlier. The Stormy Productions office will be closed for the holidays until January 5th. Have a safe and happy new year!

Cheers!
Brian

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