insiders

How to quickly convert flash games into mobile apps

Have a hit flash game on the PC? Autodesk has a way to quickly and easily get it on the smartphone.

Last week, the company unveiled the latest version of its Scaleform software, a tool used by programmers to make games for consoles and, increasingly, smartphones. In fact, the newest version has more features dedicated to the mobile environment, a reflection of the growing importance of that market.

I spoke with Autodesk executives Mark Stevens and Frank Delise about the new software and got their thoughts on the gaming industry as a whole.

Scaleform started as a tool to help … Read more

How RIM's new marketing chief sees its developer prospects

Frank Boulben, the new chief marketing officer at Research In Motion, did his homework before joining the company.

Boulben, who jumped off the sinking ship that was wireless startup LightSquared, tapped his Rolodex of contacts and friends within the carrier and developer communities to see if the RIM position was a job worth taking. To his surprise, he found there was still a lot of support behind RIM and BlackBerry. In particular, his friends were high on BlackBerry 10.

"The feedback was positive," Boulben told me in an interview. "From a technical standpoint, they like the platform … Read more

How to avoid becoming the 'zombie' app

Getting your app discovered is one challenge, but how about sustaining user interest?

If your smartphone is like mine, you have a lot of apps that were downloaded on a whim or a recommendation sitting in the apps folder or on the home page, completely untouched. Or perhaps you have a game, productivity, or entertainment app that you obsessively used for a few days only to burn out on it.

It's the phenomenon of the "zombie app," which sits unused on a smartphone, taking up space on the device and destined to be dumped down the line. … Read more

Apple and RIM secrets sold by ex-AT&T employee

A former AT&T worker is the latest corporate employee to confess involvement with insider trading, according to Reuters. Alnoor Ebrahim said he sold stock traders information that included AT&T sales numbers for Apple's iPhone and RIM's BlackBerry.

Ebrahim pleaded guilty today in U.S. District Court to one count of conspiracy to commit wire and securities fraud. "I provided insider information concerning AT&T's sales of Apple's iPhone and RIM's Blackberry products, as well as other handset set devices sold through AT&T distribution channels," he told … Read more

How iOS 6's Facebook integration is a boon to developers

Developers can't wait for iOS 6 and Facebook to show up on Apple's mobile devices.

That's according to Matt Gillis, who spent much of last week chatting with developers at Apple's WWDC event. As the head of global monetization for mobile advertising company Millennial Media, he's tapped into the developer community.

The key verdict from WWDC: a lot of excitement over the closer integration between Apple and Facebook. Developers are licking their chops waiting to tie their apps into Facebook, allowing the apps to show up in news feeds and eventually solving the problem of … Read more

How there's still room for a Facebook app store

Are there too many app stores out there? Surprisingly, maybe not.

Facebook is the latest entrant into the increasingly crowded world of app stores with its App Center, which got its formal debut Thursday.

My initial reaction: another app store? Really?

Our lives are already inundated with several app stores. Of course, there's Apple's App Store and iTunes, and Google Play on Android. Microsoft has an app store for Windows and Windows Phone. The carriers offer their own stores, as do handset manufacturers such as Research In Motion (BlackBerry App World) and the Nokia Store.

But the more … Read more

How an AT&T tool can make your app more efficient

There are a lot of apps out there with a bit too much fat on them.

These apps continuously ping the network, require multiple redundant downloads, fail to close a connection when shut down, or needlessly drain the phone's battery. Either way, that's bad for consumers and the carrier networks strained by these apps.

Most developers don't know about these issues, and they generally don't affect how the apps run. But AT&T is taking a proactive approach in getting these apps back in shape.

For the past few months, AT&T has been … Read more

Groupon shares tank as insiders dump stock

Groupon shares dropped nearly 9 percent Friday as insiders took their first opportunity to cash in on their stock.

Groupon shares fell 8.7 percent to $9.72 in early trading on Friday. The company went public in November at $20.

The decline is largely attributed to the expiration of the insider lockup agreement, or the period after an initial public offering when insiders are unable to sell their stock. That expired on Friday, allowing insiders to freely cash out, the Chicago Tribune pointed out.

Today's sell-off represents a cautionary tale for Facebook, which just went public last month … Read more

How Gas Guru is the app for gas guzzlers out there

Initially, YP's new Gas Guru app was a mystery to me. With nearly all of the features found in its original YP app, why would the company go through the trouble of building a seemingly redundant app?

The answer, YP told me, was to better capture an audience through a specific purpose-based app. Sure, much of the gas station location and pricing information is available on YP's main app, but the company hoped to nab users who were specifically searching for gas-centric apps.

YP's strategy is indicative of the challenges that even the largest brands have in … Read more