Application Developers SmartBrief

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February 7, 2013

Serving developers of all types, all languages and all platforms

Top Story

BlackBerry touts strong developer community in India
BlackBerry's efforts to inspire applications developers in India have worked as planned, as the company is reporting that 40,000 developers are on board in advance of the BlackBerry 10's release there later this month. BlackBerry's Annie Mathew says one-third of the platform's developers will be India-based by 2015. Elsewhere, the company is hosting a developer's conference in Amsterdam this week, as it looks to build on its BlackBerry 10 application offerings, which numbered 70,000 at launch. The Wall Street Journal/India RealTime blog (2/7), The Wall Street Journal/Digits blog (2/6)

Developer Economics

App Store vanity URLs will be a hit if Apple can stop resellers
Apple's App Store vanity URLs, such as the one introduced in a Star Trek Super Bowl commercial, are sure to be a hit with marketers, writes Chantal Tode. But there's a short window for capturing them and a secondary market is likely already burgeoning, Atimi Software's Scott Michaels notes. Apple is trying to prevent URL warehousing and brokering by making generic URLs return search pages instead of specific applications. Mobile Marketer (2/6)

Toolbox

Facebook's Developers Live app will feature video lessons
Facebook's Developers Live application provides tutorials and other resources such as real-time broadcasts for developers. The use of video, as well as "access to the product managers and engineers" is what differentiates Developers Live from the old Developers Blog, Emil Protalinski writes, quoting from a Facebook announcement. The first event, on Feb. 19, will feature Doug Purdy, Facebook's director of product, on "What Developers Need to Know in 2013." TheNextWeb.com (2/6)

Dropbox says it has simplified integration with revised API
Dropbox is touting its Sync application programming interface, saying it will make things easier for developers. "[I]ntegrating with Dropbox was simply too complex, as its former API was built in ways similar to traditional Web APIs. This give-and-take model wasn't a great fit for the file syncing service, presenting too many fail and friction points," Alex Wilhelm writes. TheNextWeb.com (2/6)

Regulation & Policy

Users of Twitter's Vine app are being asked to confirm their age
Twitter has begun asking users of its Vine video-sharing application to confirm they are 17 or older. The notification, which pops up when users attempt to download or upgrade the app, comes amid concerns about risqué content being uploaded and viewed by minors -- the app was originally scored as best for users 13 and older. Twitter has not commented about the change. Advertising Age (tiered subscription model) (2/6)

Industry Spotlight

Aetna's Passage app turns exercise into virtual city tours
Aetna's Passage application encourages users to imagine virtual locales as a way to boost their exercising experience. The app utilizes Apple devices' accelerometers as a pedometer and feeds members Instagram images and Google Maps info so that they can imagine they are moving around major cities, such as Paris, discovering hidden treasures. MobiHealthNews.com (2/6)

SmartQuote

Boredom is the feeling that everything is a waste of time; serenity, that nothing is."

--Thomas Szasz,
Hungarian psychiatrist and academic

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