This is Tech

I have been getting pretty exited for Apple’s World Wide Developers Conference next week. It will be my first time at the conference and there are a bunch of other developers that I have corresponded with over the last year that I am going to finally get to meet in person.

It turns out that TouchType is one of the icons featured on the big banner that hangs in the opening of the conference. If you look in the picture below, TouchType is the orange icon at the top of the “D” in WWDC.

If you are going to be at the conference, please look me up. The best way to connect with me will be through Twitter on my @hivebrain account. I will try to tweet and post often about goings on at the conference.  Hope to see you there.

Photo via: Adam Jackson

This app has been an ongoing project of mine for the last few months.  Making the application was easy compared to getting Apple to approve it.  After several rejections, today we finally threaded the needle of Apple’s review process and Photo Drop went live.
Photo Drop is a physics game that lets you choose your own picture to use as the background.  If you choose the right background picture from your photo library, it can be a lot of fun.  Many thanks to applications like Wobble for helping show us the way.

Video below.  You can find Photo Drop at on the App Store here.

Being self-employed means more time for catching up on my Internet video watching.  This was posted on Boing Boing this morning and is highlarious. I wish I could get all my news this way.

Now that that is done, I will go back to publishing iPhone apps from my underground lair.

This is my first real blog post since I left my job last month to start a software application studio.  As a bit of background, I have been a technology transactions attorney for the last seven years, living vicariously through my entrepreneur clients.  Since taking the leap into business myself, I have had my head down working on my next app.

Tonight that app went live on the app store.  Best of 101 Dog Tricks for the iPhone is a collaborative effort with well known dog trainer and showman Kyra Sundance.  The resulting application is a great way to teach your dog some basic commands.  The iPhone and iPod is the perfect vehicle for this content.  It has the best of a book and a DVD in one application that you can take with you to the park. For a walkthrough, check out the video demonstration below.

The application is available now on iTunes.

Alternate non-flash video link for readers on the iPhone or iPod: 101 Dog Tricks Demo

Today was a great day.  This morning I found out that Walt Mossberg at the Wall Street Journal mentioned TouchType in his Mossberg’s Mailbag column today.

Mid-day I wrapped up some remaining changes to a TouchType update that should be ready for submission soon.  The new version launches in Landscape mode and will have better save and load functionality, including browsing saved text and choosing where in your message you want to insert it.

In the afternoon, I headed to the Apple Store to pick up an adaptor for my MacBook, and found TouchType featured in their window and in-store display.  It was one of about 100 apps featured, but considering there are over 20k apps on the store, I felt pretty honored.

Tonight, I got word that the free version of Deep Relaxation with Andrew Johnson is going live tonight.  If you haven’t checked out the full version of the app, the free version is worth a download.  Grab a copy on your iPhone and listen to it while you are falling asleep.  I am hoping the free version will introduce a lot of people to Andrew.

It took an exceptional day to bring me back to the blog to post an update.  Lately I have been posting more on Twitter and less here on the site, so be sure to check the Twitter widget in the right sidebar of this page, or follow me @hivebrain.

Amazon released a Kindle application for the iPhone this evening.  It is a free download and syncs up with your existing Kindle account if you have one.  I downloaded the app and had access to all the books in my Kindle account within minutes.  The reading interface on the iPhone doesn’t have the flash of some other ebook readers for the phone, but the text is clear and easy to read.  Check it out on the app store.

Also, if you haven’t seen the new Kindle 2, it is a vast improvement over the original version.  It looks like it was designed by Apple, which I am guessing is not a coincidence.  Amazon wants people to realize that the Kindle is to books, what the iPod is to music.  The Kindle 2 feels more solid compared to the first gen version, which felt a little like an empty plastic case.  The buttons, which always seemed to get in the way on the first Kindle are flush with the device now and don’t get accidentally pressed anymore.

I am going to be speaking at the 360|iDev conference in San Jose next month.  The session topic is Legal Issues in iPhone Development.  I am hoping to spend some time teaching developers about the law, while learning from other participants and speakers about programming.   If you haven’t checked out the conference materials for 360|iDev, you can get the information here.

Based on the number of people jumping into iPhone development, I am guessing the conference is going to be bigger than anyone expects.  The conference is March 2-4, 2009.  Hope to see you there.

I have been experimenting over the last week with 2d physics on the iPhone.  The result is taking me away from my comfort zone of utilities and productivity apps, and into the world of casual gaming.  The app is simple, but takes advantage of some sophisticated physics computations and the iPhones accelerometer.  Should be wrapped up within the next week, and then I can say more.

Friend and colleague Aaron Hendelman offered to write this guest post on trademark issues in selecting the perfect company name.  Aaron Hendelman is a nationally recognized expert on trademark and advertising issues.  As a Partner at WSGR, works with some of the firm’s most well known clients on issues of branding, and is the most knowledgeable person I know on the topic.

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Selecting and Protecting A Company Name

Among the most important tasks in the founding of a new company are the selection, clearance and development of a company name. Because rights associated with company names are “first in time,” the sooner a founder takes steps to select and protect a company name, the better.

Founders should consider their choice of a company name as carefully as they would develop core technology or select key hires. A company’s name makes a company’s first impression, and the name selected can pay dividends or create unnecessary roadblocks over time.

As founders head to the whiteboard to brainstorm potential company names, they should continually keep a number of questions in mind. What is the name’s desired effect? Should the name say something significant about the company or its product, or just serve as a convenient handle? How clear an impression will the name make? Will it be easy to say and spell? Will the name allow the company or product lines to grow? Is it prone to (good or bad) manipulation? Thinking about your company’s long-term marketing strategy is an important part of the naming process.

Founders should also understand that, legally speaking, some company names are stronger than others. Made-up names (e.g., Exxon or Google) or those that have no literal connection to the company (e.g., Apple for a computer company) are well-positioned to establish strong intellectual property rights. Names that require a slight leap of logic or merely suggest a company’s products or services (e.g., Titanium for a travel bag company, suggesting strength and durability) are protectable and often strike the right balance between developing strong brands and educating the public about the company. On the other hand, names that describe what a company does (e.g., Online Advertising, Inc. for company that sells Internet ads) tend not to be initially protectable. Founders often gravitate toward descriptive names—wanting the public to immediately understand the company’s business. However, choosing a descriptive name can adversely impact a company’s long-term bottom line. For example, it may be impossible to stop a competitor from using the same name, a descriptive name (which, by its nature, may be similar to others’ names) may require additional marketing spend to differentiate it from a crowded field, and there may be additional expenses caused by the increased burden of “policing” others that want to use similar names.

Founders should understand that there are a host of legal and business issues as part of the company naming process. (more…)