Apple has been doint a lot of app deleting from their store. This past year, they have approved and then deleted more apps that I can count. Today’s latest to take down is a app that made a game out of school shootings.

Zombie School is the title of the game, where a student takes  control of a zombie shooting tower and kill off their fellow peers and principals. At first you have a bow and arrow, then as you kill off more you work up to guns and bombs.

Though it has been 10 years since Columbine, it still stays fresh in peoples minds. Many people felt that the game promotes school shootings, though Retarded Arts(the developer of the app) claims that it does not.

 Though Apple approved it due to them killing zombies, the public outlash forced them to take it down as of today.

Japanese smartphones are much as popular as American and European smartphones are. But only in Japan however!

What makes this even a bigger shock is the fact that they were the first ones to create the smartphones we now know!These phones are a whole type of species, and are way more advance than the main smartphones. However, they seem to be limited to Japan only.

In fact, the Japanese market for mobile phones is twice as large as USA’s and many of them use their phones to access the web.

Thus far, the only main brand of Japanese phones that are currenly sold around the globe. Sony Ericsson which is made of the Japanese based Sony and Sweden’s telecommuncations firm Ericsson. They seem to be the only one who has gone global in sales of their phones.

NEC,Panasonic,Toshiba,Sharp and Fujitsu are planning to start marketing overseas soon, in hopes to grown in the business. This will be NEC’s second attempt for selling over seas.

One of Microsoft’s senior executive has comfirmed that Microsoft one day is planning to release a Xbox mobile device. Making the long time rumor true.  However, no time plan has been laid out.

He said it was the matter of when and how. He doesn’t know if Microsoft will go about device using the current Windows Mobile. He said, that the company will need to make a decision on if they will use Windows Mobile or not.

He also said that when the device does indeed come out, it will be obvious that they had this device in the works for a long time.  And that it is not a response to the iPhone or any other hand held device like it.

Will you buy it once it does come out?

LG’s GD900 mobile phone was displayed behind glass at Mobile World Congress this year,  so this video tour of the sexy phone my LG’s Martin Valdez is very welcome in deed.  The main attraction of the phone is a world’s first clear keypad (you have to see it to believe it) that is both a keypad and an input device for text recognition, swipe gestures and more.  It can be used instead of the touchscreen to control the phone’s gorgeous UI.

Hit the link below to view the video.  You won’t be disappointed.

via Engadget.

We’ve seen some pretty cool iPhone implementations recently, such as those that emulate garage door openers or media managing remote controllers, but this takes the cake. Jonathan Oxer has written an iPhone application that can interface with his 3G equipped Mazda RX-8. The application allows him to lock/unlock the doors, start the engine and even pull real time dyno stats from the car!

As for the RX-8, it’s wired to the teeth, running a ubuntu box that provides password protected webserver access to the various components of the vehicle, as well as keeping the 3G connection open all the time. Telemetry built into the RX-8 also keeps track of real time RPM, vehicle speed, coolant temperature, throttle position and even maps current location to Google maps via mash up.

[source]

Over the last 2 years or so, Twitter users all around the world have wondered how will Twitter eventually make money from this rapidly growing social media site. Looks like the guys are Wired.com have found the answer – Twitter will make money through sales of it’s own branded portable Twitter gadget aptly named the Twitter Wingman.

Some of the features of the Twitter Wingman will include:

• A $30 – 40 price tag with a two-year contract on Boost Mobile

• 5-megapixel camera with xenon flash and Carl Zeiss lens

• Integrated GPS with real time maps that allow you to locate other Wingmen in the area.

• Bluetooth data transfers between Wingmen.

• Dedicated hot keys for sending direct tweets, picking up new followers, and retweeting.

• Aggregation for sorting twitters from celebs, direct messaging friends, plus dedicated news and gossip tweet feeds.

• Some of the biggest twitterati like Shaquille O’Neil, John Mayer, and Ashton Kutcher are already beta testing this device.

Release date will be around June this year.

I wonder what the plans are for release overseas…

Via Wired.com

I’ve been following this product for a while and SwiMP3 have launched version 2 of their waterproof MP3 player, designed to give swimmers the ultimate in musical entertainment while they work out.  In case you’re wondering, the SwiMP3 V2 uses bone conduction instead of air for sound transmission, transferring sound vibrations from the cheek bone to the inner ear.

Sounds cool ?  The only downer is that the come in sizes of 128MB up to 256MB.  Get it the SwiMP3 V2 from finisinc.com, all for a low US$149.99.

via Trendy Gagdet.

Finally Skype is on the iPhone and it works!

Looks like us Aussies were able to download it before our fellow Americans since many of my U.S. Twitter friends complained that they could not even see it in their AppStore instance.

Skype iPhone AppStore Download
Skype for iPhone took a little longer to download than the average app but it eventually completed its journey onto my iPhone. This app is taking a spot on my first page of apps given it’ll be one of my most used.

Voice Calls with Skype iPhone – Not allowed over 3G
Not sure if it’s a limitation with my carrier (Telstra) or a general iPhone Skype restriction but I could not make or receive calls via my 3G connection. Either way, this puts a damper on the whole app release and I especially feel for those customers who have all-you-can-eat data plans who can’t take advantage of potentially cheaper calls via Skype.

Other than that, voice calls over WiFi connections was fine. I even had a random Twitter guy (@ispears) call me from London to help me test this. We spoke for approximately 4 minutes and throughout that time didn’t experience any dropouts or noticeable distortion.

I liked how Skype had a speakerphone option so I could keep an eye on my waning battery life while enjoying the bliss of a Skype voice call.

Chatting Over Skype iPhone
As expected, talking to your friends via the chat option is simple and visually pleasing. You can have real time conversations with your Skype buddies and while doing so you the app allows you the options of either calling them and viewing their profile.

Other features of the Skype for iPhone include:

- take a photo for your avatar within the app
- conference call ability
- Buy Skype credits, Online Number and Voicemail buttons (takes you to website)

Being able to use Skype on iPhone’s award winning interface has just increased the iPhone’s functionality even more – even though it’s taken around 2 years, it’s a welcome addition to the AppStore.

Looks like HTC will finally get some competition in the Google Android arena. Acer has thrown in it’s hat, announcing that it too will have it’s own Android phone by as soon as Fall / September this year.

Very little is known about the Acer A1, except that it’ll have a touchscreen. Not really much to rejoice about.

Given Acer’s ability to adapt and succeed in new markets such as the netbook space, I have an inkling that Acer may just be a force to watch out for as it sets its sights on smartphones. Will Acer pleasantly surprise us? Time will tell.

It seems that this toe-dipping exercise may be the start of something bigger with company president, Gianfranco Lanci predicting that smartphones may be responsible for up to 10% of Acer’s revenue in the future.

Via Brighthand

Like everyone else, when it comes round to spending my hard earned cash, I like getting the most bang for my buck.  I usually search on the internet for the best deals, and try to find the cheapest price I can with a reputable merchant.  I also browse bargain sites daily, keeping an eye out for coupons and specials that will save me money when I make a big purchase.

One trend I am seeing on the increase though, is the policy of price matching.  Propagated by big chains and retailers, they promise to match or even beat (by a set percentage) a rival’s price for the same product.  While on the surface, this sounds like a good deal to consumers as they are able to get the lowest price with the convenience and peace of mind of purchasing for a large retailer, and they are able to take advantage store policies such as returns, warranties and so forth.  However, I think this practice is hurtful to small businesses and will be downright detrimental to consumers in the long run.

Price Matching

The basic premise of price matching is that a retailer who offers this policy, will attempt to match or beat a price advertised by a competitor for the same product.  Note that I say “advertised” – they usually require some sort of proof of the price offered, be it a catalogue, even in some cases print outs from a competitor’s website.  Some even offer a price guarantee policy, where if a customer purchases a product from a retailer and subsequently find a competitor offering a lower price, the retailer will refund the difference in price.

For the price-matching retailer, it is a win-win situation, in that (1) they get the customer’s business, and (2) they deprive their competitor of the potential earnings.

Below the Belt

The realities of business today gives a overwhelming advantage to those with economies of scale – just look at how the Walmarts or Costcos of the world are able to squeeze margins of their suppliers down due to their purchasing power.  When a smaller competitor comes up against these giants they face either one of two choices – compete on intangibles such as customer service, advice or a positive customer experience; or compete on price.

The latter is where the price matching policy is most hurtful.  Small retailers face a dilemma – if they price their products too high, customers will simply walk away and buy from the big boys.  After all, why take a risk with the smaller stores when the big stores are doing it for less anyway?  The alternative is for the small retailer to outprice the retail giants – just lower your profit margins, and perhaps attract enough volume to make it profitable.

A price matching policy however, eliminates the incentive for a consumer to patronise the smaller retailers – as soon as one offers a low price hoping to attract customers, those same customers are able to take that offer to grab an even better bargain from a large retailer instead.

With the proliferation of online bargain sites, I’ve seen this behaviour on many occasions.  In fact, a common approach is to use a price comparison search engine, find the lowest price, and then hit the big retailer for a price match and cash back of the price difference.

Above: A typical comment on a bargain website

Impact on the Industry

The net-effect of this price matching behaviour is that the smaller retailers lose out in the long run.  Traditionally, these smaller businesses are able to stay competitive because they have less policies, programs, administrative and cost overheads in general.  Increasingly however, those seeking to make an honest buck by offering low prices are finding themselves undercut by the big retailers.

At the end of the day, these giants are probably making a loss on each price matched sale.  They may write it off as a strategic investment, or loss leader or what have you, but they are able to shrug it off because they have much larger cash reserves and resources.  Unable to compete, these mom and pop store owners, entrepreneurs, family businesses and the like are soon be pushed out of the scene, the same way gas stations, hardware and grocery stores have gone.

Once there are no smaller businesses to compete against them, my fear is that the large chains will have have free reign of the market.  They will then have the power to dictate price and terms to customers, artifically inflate prices or reduce supply.  It is easy to gain an insight into how such a market will operate – just look at the monopolistic niches that the Amazon Kindle or Apple iPhone operate in.

Call to Action

Here’s what I think needs to happen to ensure a free and competitive marketplace, one where businesses large and small are able to thrive:

1.  No store-wide price matching policies

A store-wide price matching policy, when employed by large corporations, is subversive and borders on anti-competitive behaviour, and will have a detrimental effect on the retail industry in the long run.

2.  Price comparison, not price matching

I am a staunch advocate of consumers doing research through price comparison sites and finding the best deals in that manner.  Stores should go ahead and advertise their best price, and may the best price win.  No lazy pricing and winning by default through the price-match-out-of-jail-free card.

3.  Competition on factors other than price

Price isn’t the only factor when making a purchase – retailers can compete by providing superior service, expertise advice, an exchange or returns policy for peace of mind.  You’d be surprised how many customers would be willing to pay a little more in return for these.

In summary, price matching policies are putting smaller retailers at risk.  In the long run, it will be detrimental to the free market and consumers will ultimately suffer for it.