Are you ready to develop for Windows XP?

Are you ready to develop applications for a Windows XP-based phone?

According to Gizmodo, the rumored xpPhone looks to be getting more real and they now have photos and specifications to back that up.

Configuration
• CPU: AMD Super Mobile CPU
• Memory: 512M/1G
• SSD: 8G/16G/32G/64G
• HDD: 30G/60G/80G/120G
• LCD: 4.8′ TFT Touch-screen LCD 800*480
• Operating System: Microsoft Windows XP
• Network: GSM/GPRS/EDGE/WCDMA (HSDPA/HSUPA)
• CDMA/CDMA2000 1X/CDMA1X EVDO,TD-SCDMA，TD-HSDPA
• Wireless: WiFi 802.11b/g,WiMax(optional),Buletooth,Stand-alone GPS
• Camera Specifications:CMOS, 300k/1.3 Million
• Ports: 1 x earphone jack, 1 x microphone jack,Docking Connector (includes VGA output signal ), 1 x USB 2.0, SIM Slot
• Battery: Removable Lithium-ion
• Talk time: about 5 hours,Stand by time: about 5 days
• Real life: about 7 hours(Standard), about 12 hours(Large)
• Talk time: Standby time，Operation time may vary depending different usage.
• Weight: 400g (include battery)

Well this sounds more like a netbook disguised as a phone, it could lead to some interesting developments.  With a phone running a full operating system could give you a lot more freedom in what apps you choose to build.  The only caveat at this point would be to find out if pre-existing programs will run on it, because if they do, a ton of programs have already been built.

No price or release date has been announced as of yet.

Defining the strategy for your app release

You have a great idea for a new app, but do you have any clue of how to release it or market it?

Just like any business you are going to need to know how to market your product, what to charge, how to design and it so on, but can you possibly think of all the questions you will need to answer?

Luckily MobiAD published a great twelve point list that addresses all of the things you need to ask as you prepare to launch.  The only thing about the piece is that it does tend to flip back and forth between a large brand and the average developer, and perhaps is a bit too focused on the iPhone/iPod Touch community, but really all the rules can apply to everyone who is looking to develop an app.

While some of the pointers are kind of no brainers, the last suggestion is one a lot of people tend to forget: You are also developing for the iPod Touch.  Numerous studies have shown that Touch owners tend to download twice as many applications as iPhone users, but yet they tend to get left out due to location features even in the simplest of apps.  If your app is location based, at least let the user enter their location by hand, too many apps go with the GPS-or-nothing solution, do you really want to exclude that many users over such a simple aspect?

The entire article is well worth your time if you are a developer or brand pondering releasing an app.

Google Analytics gets friendlier with mobile apps

Google Analytics is one of the most popular metrics for measuring traffic on Web sites, and now you can extend that to your mobile applications.

The news of these new tools will be welcomed by many app developers, and the nice thing is that they do not require JavaScript to function.  Google says that it will support PHP, Perl, JSP and ASPX, but of course JavaScript-enabled browsers are more than welcomed.  Developers working with iPhone and Android will also be able to track how users engage with the app, and Android devs will be able to tie all of this information into your ad campaigns.

For those of you building mobile-friendly pages, you will also soon be able to breakout data on carriers and devices.

We admit to being a bit behind on this news, but to our defense it was buried in a blog post from the Analystics team entitled "Google Analytics Now More Powerful, Flexible And Intelligent" … that title doesn’t exactly scream "new mobile features."

The Apple iTunes/Palm Pre game of cat & mouse continues … again

You almost have to wonder when/if this game between Palm and Apple is going to end.

Back on Sept. 27th we told you that Palm had once again hacked iTunes so you could update your Pre with iTunes version 9.0.1.  Well, on Thursday of this week, Apple released iTunes 9.0.2, and any one want to guess what happened?  Anyone?  Bueller?  Bueller?

If you guessed that the Palm Pre can no longer sync with iTunes, you would be correct.  This of course means that Palm will soon update webOS again, and then Apple will block it again … and then Palm … and then Apple …

You get the picture, but you have to wonder when one side or the other is finally going to to give in and realize that they are making a far bigger deal out of this whole thing than it really is.  I admit I don’t have a Pre, so I don’t quite get why this is such a big deal to so many people, but each time it happens it ends up all over the tech press, so it ends up here as a result.

Apple launches the iPhone in China, but without Wi-Fi

The iPhone has finally gone on sale in Japan, but no one is quite sure why it is missing Wi-Fi functionality.

The central government in Japan had a ban on Wi-Fi in mobile devices up until this past May, right around the time Apple went into production on the five million iPhones that China Unicom is contracted to buy.

Without Wi-Fi, both Apple and China Unicom may face a large uphill battle for sales in the communist country.  As 9to5Mac points out:

Unicom’s prices range from 4,999 yuan ($730) to 6,999 yuan ($1,025) for the high-end, 32-gigabyte iPhone 3GS. This poses a second challenge for Apple in China – unlocked grey import iPhones (with WiFi) cost around 5,700 yuan ($835) in China’s street markets.

Depending on how badly someone wants Wi-Fi, it makes you wonder why they wouldn’t go for the grey market version of the phone.  Either way, app developers may be set for a major boon in sales as the Chinese enter the world of Apple goodness.