InterpoCalcLt provides engineers, scientists, business analysts, or anyone else who uses tabulated data with an extremely useful tool for quickly performing single- linear, double- linear, and single-parabolic interpolations and extrapolations.  The app includes visual confirmation graphs (single-linear and single-parabolic) and easy data entry using a custom numerical keypad.  Results and input can be e-mailed for later use, sharing, or documentation, in either table format (HTML), or plain text format. Optionally, a .csv file may be attached.  This file can then be imported into a spreadsheet.

PsychroCalc allows inputs in either SI (metric) units I-P (English) units, and converts from one to the. other.  The app uses industry standard ASHRAE equations, supports convenient sharing of results via e-mail and has broad application in meteorology, heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning.

New in Version 1.1:

• Added the option to email in HTML (table) format, and to attach .csv files.
• Changed the input of variables to use a custom numerical keyboard, rather than sliders.
• Fixed minor bugs

Heisler Calculator provides an accurate numerical solution, eliminating the need for tedious graphical results from Heisler charts.  We decided to make the app completely free to encourage academic use in the study of heat transfer.

Technorati Tags: iPhone, iPod Touch, Apple, mobile, Heisler Calculator

PsychroCalc allows inputs in either SI (metric) units I-P (English) units, and converts from one to the. other.  The app uses industry standard ASHRAE equations, supports convenient sharing of results via e-mail and has broad application in meteorology, heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning.

Technorati Tags: iPhone, iPod Touch, Apple, mobile, PsychroCalc

Each colorful upper case alphabet letter from A to F smoothly morphs into its lowercase counterpart, creating a strong visual association for a child learning the alphabet.

Alphabet Morpher Lite is the free “trial” version of our popular Alphabet Morpher app.  The “lite” version also features Autoplay and a gives a good preview of the teaching and entertainment capabilities of the full version.

Technorati Tags: iPhone, iPod Touch, Apple, mobile, Alphabet Morpher Lite, Alphabet Morpher

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Alphabet Morpher, a new Education / Entertainment App from BluMtnWerx, Now Available on Apple’s App Store

Alphabet Morpher, an innovative tool for teaching the alphabet to preschoolers, is available for immediate download on Apple’s App Store.

Los Altos, CA — July 24, 2010 — BluMtnWerx, a developer of leading edge applications for mobile devices is pleased to announce that Alphabet Morpher, its first education/entertainment app, is now available for download from the App Store.

Alphabet Morpher is an innovative and extremely engaging iPhone™ / iPod touch™ app that teaches the alphabet while entertaining the preschool set.  Each colorful upper case alphabet letter from “A” to “Z” smoothly morphs into its lowercase counterpart, creating a strong visual association for a child learning the alphabet.  Familiarity with the letters is reinforced by an accompanying song and memorable image for each character.

“While we’d never want one of our apps to be characterized as ‘cute,’ Alphabet Morpher comes pretty close,” says Dean Stevens, founder of BluMtnWerx.  Mr. Stevens continues, “Autoplay mode allows you to entertain little learners for hours with minimal interaction, while the interactive mode really helps develop letter recognition and familiarity.  This is a powerful teaching tool targeted directly at those impressionable young minds.  It’s fun, it’s engaging, and it might even be (at least a tiny bit) good for the little folks.”

Alphabet Morpher is available on Apple’s iTunes App Store at:
        http://itunes.com/app/alphabetmorpher

The Alphabet Morpher web page is:
        http://www.blumtnwerx.com/AlphaMorph.html

About BluMtnWerx:

We believe that the nexus of interaction with computing is moving to the very edge of the network.  With this in mind, we assembled an elite team of engineers to develop applications at the edge.  We build software to bring the universe to you, wherever you are and whenever you want to connect.

We currently have a number of applications available on the Apple App Store, and several more in the pipeline.

For further information on BluMtnWerx, please visit our website. For direct inquires, please contact:

Dean Stevens, Founder
BluMtnWerx
408-461-9913

dean (at) blumtnwerx.com
http://www.blumtnwerx.com
http://www.blumtnwerx.com/blog

Technorati Tags:  iPhone, iPod Touch, Apple, mobile, Alphabet Morpher

The Wired story linked to above has the money quote:

“This scam was so effective that the applications regularly rose to the tops of charts. One, called ColorMagic, even made it into the Staff Favorites section of the store (which brings some doubt as to whether these are actually staff picks at all).”

It does indeed make me wonder how they go about identifying their “favorites.”

The cynic in me can’t help noticing that Molinker produced 1 app for every 5 units of the iPhone sold during the launch with China Unicom (we’re told that Apple yanked 1000 of Molinker’s apps).  Oh well, 1% fewer apps are out there competing for attention.

Q:  Why did Apple change their minds?

A:  Again, only Apple can tell you their exact reasons. In our conversation with them, they indicated that our blog post, linked across the web and seen by tens of thousands of readers, was a force for change here. As for other problems that don’t generate this much exposure and backlash? They may be less likely to be fixed, and that’s unfortunate.

I’m truly happy for Rogue Amoeba (previous slightly critical post notwithstanding), but I absolutely don’t believe that this indicates that Apple will go any easier on the rest of us.  These guys just made enough noise to force Apple to blink.  Most of us probably can’t accomplish that.

“Presumably, such a check would be run at the beginning of the review process”

Any steps in the process that they can automate sound good to me.  I just wish that they would run this check in conjunction with submission (as they do for proper app signing).  Personally, I’d be thrilled if the whole process could be automated.  Unfortunately, software probably isn’t that great at finding objectionable content and trademark infringements.  At least this is a step in the right direction…

Airfoil Speakers Touch

I sighed when I read about Rogue Amoeba‘s recent decision to place their iPhone development efforts on the far back burner.  Normally, I would have just written the story off as yet another developer in a (perhaps justified) snit. Then, I read Jeff LaMarche‘s carefully written, and forcefully argued, defense of Apple’s actions in this situation.  My crude summary of Mr. LaMarche’s response is, “The rules were clear.  You broke them.  Stop whining.”

Then it got good.  Mike Ash (@mikeash), an engineer at Rogue Amoeba, tweeted his, less than pleased, response to Mr. LaMarche’s (@jeff_lamarche) post.  Through the 140 character at-a-shot dialog, Mr. Ash seems to assert that the images in question were served up from their desktop app, and pushed onto the phone.  The images are available to programs on the desktop and are permissible in desktop apps.  Thus, Mr. Ash argues that the iPhone app is just displaying an image, not unlike a browser.  Good point.

Does the computer on their iTunes Connect screenshot look suspiciously like an iMac?

Mike Ash Explains the Image Issue in Airfoil Speakers Touch

Here’s the bottom line for me.  It doesn’t matter what seems “right.”  It doesn’t matter what seems “fair.”  Apple has made it exceedingly clear through its actions that it owns the App Store.  It makes all of the rules and interprets / enforces them as it sees fit.  If developers don’t like it, they can follow Rogue Amoeba and the Facebook App guy out the door.  Apple has more than 100K apps in the store and they clearly don’t care about any specific individual developer (unless the individual can raise a big enough ripple, like Jason Snell at Macworld).  As they say, “There are a thousand other developers who will gladly take your place…”