FriendCaller Blog

Apple has always been tight lipped about the launch of any of its devices. Since the release of its iPhone 4 back in June 2010, Apple has taken the longest time to finally announce the release of iPhone 5.

Tech world has been buzzing about the release of iPhone 5 since long. Lots of rumors came. Now, finally, the myth has been busted as Apple started sending out invitations for a mega press event to be held on Oct 4^th called ‘Let’s talk iPhone’.

According to analysts, Apple might unfold the release of it’s much talked about iPhone 5, iPhone 4S or both in this forthcoming media event.

So, how will the new version look like? As always, numerous speculations are circulating in the tech industry. Apparently, iPhone 5 is expected to have a sleek design, similar to iPhone 4 and a larger, curved screen display. With iOS 5 – a dual-core A5 processor, iCloud, 1 GB RAM, 4G network support and long battery life, we can expect a much better and faster version here.

When it comes to camera quality, that’s where Apple’s competitors like Android has outshined iPhone. With an expected 8 megapixel camera and a full 1080p Video recording features in iPhone 5, Apple will certainly taken a giant leap in terms of camera resolution, screen size and overall picture and video quality. Furthermore, enhanced FaceTime and Retina display features will definitely enthrall the iPhone users with an excellent Video calling experience.

Gone are the days when iPhone users had to bear the lack of multitasking feature in old iPhone models like 2G or 3G.  Apple’s recent models like 3GS and 4G give the users full liberty to multitask and iPhone 5 will be no different. It may also come with a new feature called ‘Assistant’, allowing the users to actually talk to their phones in real by enabling a number of voice-based commands. Pretty neat!

With Apple’s iOS 5 powered iPhone, expect a fully loaded Appstore with tons of exciting apps to choose from. Since our FriendCaller for iPhone app was listed amongst the top grossing apps of iTunes back in 2010, we are certainly looking forward to the release of much awaited iPhone 5 just like everybody else.

Developers are bugged everywhere, why? With iTunes’ latest In-App verification function giving out a 404 Not Found error, currently, In-App purchases cannot be processed. Apparently, lots of forged purchase attempts were being reported on Friday, leaving many developers in a state of complete fix.

Although the ‘Verify Receipt’ feature is optional, still many top apps solely depend on it. Many developers have reported countless fake purchase receipts entering the system after this critical iOS security failure, resulting in losing a lot of sales for their apps.

Recent stats reported by Verizon shows that approximately 72% of the revenue of iPhone apps comes from In-App purchases. Quite an amazing number isn’t it? No wonder developers from across the world are being disturbed by this recent glitch as they are left with no official resource to confirm the legitimacy of any In-App purchases.

From a developer’s point of view, this was an alarming situation for us as well. Since, our FriendCaller Pro app was amongst the top grossing apps of iTunes back in 2010 with over 4 million users worldwide, we were also concerned by the fact that lots of fake purchases are being made by unauthorized sources.

Not paying for the apps is similar to stealing a developer’s hard work. Since Apple insists on In-App purchasing as the only way to get access to countless apps, we are hopeful that this bug gets fixed soon.

Well, this just keeps getting better and better! Just a year ago, we hit the 1 million user mark and were overwhelmed by the response FriendCaller got. Our journey didn’t end there and in less than 4 months, we expanded from 1 million to 1.5 million users worldwide.

By the start of this year, the 2 million users’ milestone was reached and now 4 million. Great! FriendCaller is everywhere. We are truly humbled.

So, what makes FriendCaller the topmost choice of more than 4 million users? With FriendCaller, we are focused on providing the best of browser-based VoIP solutions. The great response shown by our users has encouraged us to develop and improvise our VoIP apps with new and enhanced internet Telephony features.

Get instantly connected with your friends. Enjoy free Video calls and texts from FriendCaller to FriendCaller or call to landlines and mobile phones at extremely low call rates.

You can download many free apps and add calling credits to your account by using our ‘Offer Wall’. Besides our FriendCaller apps for iPhone, iPod Touch, iPad and Android, we are also working on creating a FriendCaller for BlackBerry app so stay tuned!

In 2010, our FriendCaller 3 Pro App was ranked amongst the top grossing apps in Apple iTunes Rewind by landing on the 5^th position and the best thing is that it’s still absolutely free.

Yes! We are celebrating and indeed proud of the landmark we have achieved in such a short span of time. Watch this space for more awesome FriendCaller features and apps to come!

I’m actually happy that Google has taken over Motorola. At least, now we can expect Motorola phones getting regular Android updates. Also, they won’t be putting up with proprietary user interfaces that absolutely ruin Android experience. The release of Android 3.0 only to device makers, who will be shipping the simple Vanilla version is a very smart move for sure.

Yesterday, I wrote a blog post about forceful sign-ups with Samsung only to find out no updates in the end on  Samsung Galaxy S Plus. Can it get any worse? Well, the answer is yes. I bought a Samsung Galaxy S5 too that resembles an iPod touch with 5’’ screen. Features include a front face camera that we need for our FriendCaller Android Video Chat App. But here’s the catch! The device came with an Android 2.2 installed in it whereas front face camera feature is supported only by Android 2.3 version. Now, that’s disturbing, isn’t it?

One bad experience led to another. I could not find any ‘System Update’ option, which should have been above status on about section. Great! What’s going on here?

It dawned on me after searching Samsung website and going through this that a special software installation is required on my MAC, (Hurray, they offer a MAC version).  This looks almost similar to iTunes with its own Android market place. So, this explains why Samsung forces the user so much into ‘Kies’. Yes, you either sign up and buy your music and apps or get ready to receive no updates. Ouch!

Did I have a choice? No, so I downloaded and installed the software, updated the new download and connected my Galaxy S5. Wondering what did I get? A pop-up that ‘this device is not supported by Kies 2.0’! Are you kidding me???

Android has certainly taken 2 steps back here, losing enough credibility. I frankly don’t care if they sell half a million Android a day or 1 million. If they cannot control these major issues like fragmentation or bad user experience just because they ignore these device makers’ proprietary stunts, this is not going to work. What’s in it for me if I spend a cool thousand bucks on 2 Samsung devices that turned out to be an epic fail right from the beginning?

So, I am back to my Nexus S, a pure Android inside out. Ironically, it’s also manufactured by Samsung but it works like a pro, always updated and does not limit my mobile freedom.

What is your Android experience?

P.S  I fancy the name ‘Kies’. The German meaning of this word is a kind of loose gravel. Hmm, a perfect description I must say based on the kind of user experience it offers which is totally built up on loose grounds.

There goes the Web OS. Another defeat for the ‘other’ category as HP abandons WebOS.

Is it shocking for me? Certainly not! Having spent most of my summers in our Sunnyvale Office at PlugAndPlay Tech Center, I have seen full page WebOS Touchpad ads popping up literally in newspapers, on billboards and on 101 covering the whole nine yards. Surprised? Well, that’s true.

So, what’s the history? Let’s take a recap. It all started when HP bought Palm for 1.2 billion and then gave WebOS the status of a ‘building block’ as a part of their strategy. Moreover, HP spent a whopping 50 million dollars or more or less near to that on introducing the new range of WebOS devices.

But when the HP Touchpad finally came out; you could get practically close to none apps for it. Disappointing isn’t it? And who bothered buying a Touchpad anyways? Yes, Nobody. Guess who was left all surprised? Hmm, well maybe HP top management. Wondering what these guys were thinking seriously? What made them believe that somebody will go for a mobile device, even as nice as HP Touchpad but without loaded with any cool apps?

My advice for the next technology giant whoever wants to push its ‘other’ mobile platform (Microsoft, are you still there?) is to take a note from this dumping of WebOS by HP. From a developer’s point of view, it’s pretty difficult to make a decent living just from creating different apps. Even though FriendCaller was the Top grossing Social App and iTunes last year, we still struggle for every dollar. So, I guess it’s better if we don’t talk about the TOP 20 guy’s takings as it is all pro bono.

Here’s the solution. Simply offer every TOP 25 iTunes developer 10,000 USD to get the app ported to WebOS. iTunes consists of 20 app categories, so it would make about 5 million USD. Then, provide every developer with free advertising of USD 10,000 value. Make sure there is an inbuilt app payment mechanism installed.

Still thinking why the developers won’t come? They will. Rest in Peace WebOS. You will not be missed by us. We never developed an app for you and had a solid reason for that!