HiveBrain Software

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

After keeping this under my hat for the last month, I received word this evening from Apple that HiveBrain’s new iPhone app will be hitting the US App Store in the next 24 hours. [Update, SMS Touch launched this morning and is available here.

To put it simply, SMS Touch enables iPhone users to compose SMS messages using Apple’s wider landscape keyboard.  This is something that people have been asking for since I launched TouchType back in October.  There were a number of challenges associated with making this work, the biggest being that it is not possible to send the body of a text message into Apple’s SMS application.

The work around involves routing text messages through Apple’s email program.  Take a look at the video demonstration below for an idea of how it works.

I evaluated several alternatives, but eventually chose this approach because it allows iPhone users to send SMS messages and receive replies without incurring SMS fees.  iPhone users already have unlimited email messages, so there is no reason we iPhone users should have to pay to communicate with people that only have SMS.

I hope people enjoy the app  Please feel free to send any feedback to feedback@thisistech.com.

Big news for ThisisTech this week.  We have gone legit and become a full fledged company.  I wouldn’t be a very good attorney if I didn’t practice what I preach and create a proper entity.

HiveBrain Software will house all development activities related to ThisisTech and my growing stable of iPhone apps.  Lots of interesting stuff to come.  Stay tuned.

Click Here to see all of the HiveBrain Apps on the App Store.

Last night I launched a free version of TouchType on the iTunes App Store.  TouchType Lite includes all the core features of the original TouchType application, except spell check and Twitter integration.  If the $0.99 price tag on TouchType has prevented you from giving it a try, now is your chance to try the free version before you spring for the $0.99 original version.

I have some intersting news regarding an upcoming app that I should be able to share soon.  Thanks to everyone that sends feedback.  If you have any comments or questions about the apps please feel free to send me an email at support@thisistech, or if you have submissions that you would like to see posted on this site, please send email to submissions@thisiste.com.

My second iPhone application hit the App Store last night.  The application is called Private-I and is intended to help users recover lost or stolen iPhones.  The program was written using Google’s App Engine as its back-end, and sends the user an email with the iPhone’s location whenever the program is opened.  The icon for the app was designed to lure thieves and curious finders to open the program.  You can check out the full description on the App Store here.

[UPDATE]:  Private-I got some great press in the last couple days.  Reviews on Techcrunch, Gizmodo, and Wired, to name a few.

Readers of this blog know that posts have slowed down in the last few weeks, as I have been spending more of my spare time thinking about iPhone development. Last night my first iPhone application, Direct Line, launched on the iTunes App Store.

Direct Line is a program that automatically navigates you to a person when you dial customer service numbers. The application includes a list of companies that can be dialed with a tap. Once connected, your iPhone will automatically punch the numbers necessary to get you to a person.

In the half day since the application launched, the program has received some great press. Mike Arrington at TechCrunch posted a review this morning calling the application a “must have.” Doesn’t get much better than that for a first day.

Apps take a while to work their way through the approval process at Apple, so stay tuned. I have two other applications awaiting approval.  Like Direct Line, they are very simple apps that hopefully will create some value for users.

The iPhone is an amazing development platform. I am a hobbyist and have found writing applications for the phone to be a simulating challenge. I hope you enjoy the program.

[Link to Direct Line on iTunes]

–Mike

In the dark of night, after everyone goes to sleep, I have been working on an iPhone application to solve one of my pet peeves about composing email on the iPhone.  Posts on the blog has suffered a bit over the past week or two, as a result of the all encompasing frustrations of making an application that runs as intended.

I will post details once the application goes live on the App Store.  For now, I can say that the application is extremely bare bones, but is intended to increase productivity on the iPhone.  Learning the basics of Objective C and the iPhone SDK has been a fun challenge.  Some things that you would expect to be very difficult, like handling screen rotation transitions, and provisioning code certificates, were incredibly simple.  Some of the simple things were less intuitive, like making the keyboard appear and disappear.

I am not sure how long the approval process with Apple takes, but once/if the application is approved, I will post a full description here.  Stay tuned.