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Boxcar CEO Q&A


I recently emailed the CEO of your guys favorite app of all time, Angry Birds! I’m just kidding, I emailed the CEO of Boxcar. His name is Jonathan George and I was very fortunate to get a response from him. I asked him a few questions that are listed below and he was nice enough to answer them for me. Hope you guys enjoy.

1.) Why did you want to start Boxcar?

I started Boxcar on a whim in June 2009.  Push notifications had just been released with iOS 3.0 and I had missed a direct message on Twitter from someone.  I thought: it’d have been awesome to receive that via a push notification.  A few hours later I had a small prototype built.  I started it that Friday evening and submitted it to Apple two days later.  The first version only opened 2 Twitter clients and you could use it with just one Twitter account.  Even though it was ugly, slow and tiny, it worked.  It brought a new experience to something that badly needed an overhaul. It’s changed a lot since that first launch. 

2.) Why is Boxcar free? I could see paying $10 for this useful app.

Boxcar is free because we want as many people to use Boxcar as possible.  Without users, Boxcar wouldn’t be what it is today.  We’ll be experimenting with new revenue models early next year, but Boxcar will always be free to download. Of course, if you love Boxcar, you can help support us by using in app purchase to disable the ads. 

3.) Are their any big future updates coming to the app you can tell us?

We have several top secret projects underway that may see the light of day, but nothing that we can discuss right now.

4.) When did Boxcar start becoming “big?”

I always thought of Boxcar as being “small” up until Jeff, Josh and Conor joined me a few months ago.  Boxcar was a side project until they joined in.  If something needed to be done, I’d do it.  Now when I wake up in the morning, there is already more done than I would have done in a single day before.

That’s probably the biggest defining moment, even though there are others. For example, I used to tell myself “Oh, someday Twitter will introduce push”.  And then Twitter did introduce push, but people kept on using Boxcar for Twitter push notifications.  Why?  Because we’re great at it.  It’s what we do.  And at that point you realize you’ve built something that people love.

5.) What do you think when you see your app reviewed on a big tech website or talked about on YouTube?

It’s amazing, really.  I still get ridiculously excited anytime I see *anyone* write an article about Boxcar.  I always e-mail any press we get to my mom and dad to share with them.

You guys can contact Jonathan at jonathan@boxcar.io

And during our email conversations he said he takes pride in answering every email and will get back to you. I might not be right away but he will eventually get back.

verizon iphone 4 confirmed

[BREAKING] Verizon iPhone 4 Coming Febuary 3

Verizon concluded their event held on Tuesday, January 11, 2011, where they announced that the iPhone 4 would be available on their CDMA network. The iPhone is the iPhone 4, however, the breaks in the aluminum siding for the antenna seem to have been rearranged – possibly to address the antennagate issue.

The Verizon iPhone 4 will cost $199 for the 16GB version and $299 for the 32GB version with the capability of it acting as a mobile hotspot for up to 5 additional devices. It is availalbe for pre-order for existing Verizon customers on February 3 and for the general public on February 10 online and in Verizon and Apple stores. Unfotunately it won’t be running on Verizon’s new incredibly fast 4G LTE network. Instead, it will run on 3G, although, being as how a new iPhone will be announced around June, that one might have the capability of running on the 4G LTE network. Other than those new facts, it will have the same features/looks as the current iPhone 4.

We will have full coverage of the Verizon iPhone 4 on February 10. Stay tuned.

unnamed samsung phone

New Samsung 4G LTE Smartphone

Samsung recently announced a new, nameless phone at the 2011 Consumer Electronics Show which runs on Verizon Wireless’s new 4G LTE service. It has a 1GHz processor, an SD-card slot, a front- and back-facing camera, and a 4.3″ Super AMOLED Plus screen.

This phone currently has no determined launch date or pricing.

motorola ces 2011

New Motorola Products (ATRIX, CLIQ 2, XOOM)

Motorola has unveiled three new amazing products at this year’s Consumer Electronics Show, two of which are a phone, the other a tablet.

The new Motorola ATRIX features a dual-core processor each at 1GHz, 1GB of RAM, 960×540 resolution, 24-bit color, 16GB internal, 32GB microSD expansion, 802.11n WiFi connectivity, 11m thickness, and a front-facing camera. What makes the ATRIX truly unique, however, is it’s ability to be docked in the new Motorola HD dock which is almost identical to a laptop but without any components (CPU, RAM, motherboard, etc.). The phone powers the entire dock and it gives the user the ability to control the phone using a laptop-like accessory. This dock is also capable of running the full version of FireFox as well as a virtual Windows 7 environment.

The Motorola CLIQ 2 retains a similar design to the original CLIQ, including the physical keyboard and the MOTOBLUR UI. Also featuring Android 2.2, a 3.7″ display and a 5MP camera with dual LED flash.

Lastly, Motorola’s new tablet, the XOOM, features a healthy-sized 10.1-inch capacitive screen with a very high resolution of 1280×800, a 5MP HD front-facing camera, and the mandatory dual-core ARM-based Tegra 2 chipset, which will allow for full 1080p HD video playback. What is attracting all the buzz about the XOOM, however, is that it is the first tablet to run Google’s tablet-optimized Android 3.0 Honeycomb operating system. This will bring a lot more functionality to the device, as all the core apps will be redesigned so as to allow the user to take full advantage of the much greater screen size, compared to what you get on a smartphone running, for example, Android 2.2. In addition, the tablet will feature all the known goodies that we love like an accelerometer, gyroscope and of course, Adobe Flash 10.1 Player support.

We Rule Quest

We Rule for Mac? Let’s See in my Interview With the Developers!

I recently had a “interview” with the people over at the famous addicting game We Rule. You all know I’m addicted to We Rule and with the launch of the Mac AppStore I was very curious if they would release a version for the Mac. I would love if they did that, so I tweeted them (that’s how I start most interviews) I asked them if they were thinking about or working on We Rule for the Mac and they replied back with this.

Quote (via @WeRuleGame):

@connerowen We’re taking at look at the new platform – more details when we have them.

So this means that most likely that they will release a version for the Mac soon. So if you addicted to We Rule like me and have a Mac, You will be soon able to play We Rule on the Mac.

If you want to add me on We Rule my gamer tag is connerowen
I always accept all orders as well.

verizon iphone announced

Verizon iPhone Coming January 11

Verizon has just sent out invitations for a keynote address to be held in New York City Tuesday, January 11th at 11:00 A.M. The topic of the event is currently unknown at the moment but the usual speculation of this is the Verizon iPhone. Now every event most people always assume the Verizon iPhone and it is getting old, but this time it is the real deal. This is why:

1. AppAdvice.com Claims:

Quote (via AppAdvice):

“More precisely, Verizon invited some unusual people to the event, like MG Siegler from Techcrunch, a self-proclaimed Apple Fanboy, as well as Jim Dalrymple of The Loop, who exclusively covers Apple news. Both are not usually invited for Verizon events. Then, we should also point out that Gizmodo hasn’t been invited, which is unprecedented for a Verizon event according to them. They believe this might have something to do with the fact that they’re persona non grata over at Apple ever since they leaked the iPhone 4.”

2. Verizon did not invite Gizmodo, now Gizmodo is always invited to all Verizon Keynotes, but they are now banned from Apple Events ever since they got the leaked iPhone 4, and they were not invited this time so that makes us lead that this event is focused on Apple.

3. The WSJ Reported:

Quote (via The Wall Street Journal):

Breaking: We’ve confirmed that Verizon will announce on Tuesday that the iPhone is coming to its network”

Another “clue” that we haven’t figured out is that it will be announces at 1/11/11 at 11:00 A.M. If you can figure out the clue, email me at conner@techgeec.com

So this all leads up to believe that their is a 90% chance that their will be a Verizon iPhone announce.

PM_Logo_Horiz

Exclusive Look: Powermat Products at CES 2011

Powermat has really stepped their game up this year at the 2011 CES. They have unveiled many new products, all of which make life for the consumermuch easier and convenient.

Powermat has made their charging case for the iPhone  extremely thin and unbelievably light. When holding the iPhone, it’s almost like the case is not even there. In addition to the new iPhone charging cases, they have also released new, thinner charging stations which take up less space.

Powermat has also been in much calibration with major international companies such as GM and Arconas. Powermat and GM have partnered to bring built-in charging stations to the new electric car, the Chevy Volt, as well as Arconas, a major retailer of airport seating. With Arconas, Powermat has placed built-in charging stations into the surfaces between the airport seats.

They are also in collaboration with some major computer computer manufacturers to implement Powermat technology into the batteries. They are also aiming to make universal charging so that consumers only need one piece of technology to charge all of their different devices.

Everything Powermat has unveiled is thinner, lighter, and much better integrated with personal electronics than any of their previous models.

htc thunderbolt verizon ces 2011

Verizon LTE Device Event Round-up

Verizon Wireless had a press conference earlier today where they announced a plethora of new technologies capable of running on their new 4G LTE network and they hope to have 2/3 of the U.S. covered by LTE by mid-2012 with 10 new LTE devices launching by mid-year (4 phones, 2 tablets, 2 mobile hotspots, and 2 netbooks).

One of the major devices announced at the event was the HTC Thunderbolt. It can act as a 4G mobile hotspot capable of connecting to 8 devices. Rockband Mobile was also announced giving users the ability to play with up to 4 friends.

Samsung debuted 3 new devices – 4G Galaxy Tab, 4G mobile hotspot, and a new phone. The phone has a 4.3 Super AMOLED Plus display which features improved sharpness and outdoor visibility (which the iPhone definitely lacks unless one is willing to pay for an anti-glare screen shield). It also has an 8MP camera, HD video recording, 1.3 MP front-facing camera.

The new Galaxy Tab will feature a 1.2 Ghz Hummingbird processor (faster than the Snapdragon processor found in most smartphones) and will be launching in the first half of 2011.

It also turns out that some of these new LTE phones will support simultaneous voice and data at launch while others will not. Unfortunately no word was mentioned regarding the purported Verizon iPhone.

sony-ces-2011-0085

Sony 3D Head-Mounted Display [Prototype]

One of the hottest topics at tonight’s Sony press conference on CES 2011 was their prototype 3D head-mounted display. The headgear has two 1280 x 720 OLED displays and integrated simulated 5.1 surround sound. The design of the product is unbelievable, however. It wraps around your eyes and ears and has sleek, cool blue LED accents.

There are already some issues, though, mainly because it’s still a prototype. One of which is that the user currently has to hold the headset up to their face like binoculars because it is incapable of resting on one’s face like regular glasses. Sources claim the 3D is subtle yet very well executed so long as the user holds it at the perfect angle.

In terms of the noise quality, it was difficult to detect the quality due to the noise in Sony’s booth, but it did seem to be good enough. If Sony is able to successfully produce these displays, make them fairly inexpensive ($100-$200), and are able to persuade the public that wearing a head-mounted display gives the best quality and user experience, they will definitely have a winner.

What do you think about this product? The aesthetics are amazing, user experience is just alright, as of now. Again it’s still a prototype so there’s a chance it might not ever me produced.

ipod nano 6g hack

How to Hack iPod Nano 6G

This tutorial enables you to remove application icons from the iPod Nano 6G’s SpringBoard and insert blank spaces into the those locations. The iPod Nano in this tutorial is running the current 1.0 firmware and is Windows-formated. This will not work with a Mac-formatted Nano. It’s fairly basic and simple, but shows that booting with a user modified file is possible and is a nice proof of concept and is the first small ‘hack’ as such for the new iPod Nano. Before doing this, read the iPod Nano hacking primer, which James Whelton, the hacker, wrote here: http://nanohack.me/?p=33

Tutorial (via NanoHack.me)

  1. Make sure “Enable disk use” is ticked in iTunes when the Nano is plugged in.
  2. Go to My Computer and then into the NanoEnable hidden folders and go into theiPod_Control, then into Device.
  3. Make a backup of IconState.plist (save it to your desktop or something) and then proceed to open the original with Notepad or any text editor, here is what you’ll see this:
  4. For this tutorial I removed the SBPhotos part of the corresponding string and deleted the SBAlbums and SBGenres. (Note: you aren’t actually deleting the apps, simply removing their visibility from the system).
  5. Save this file.
  6. SyncTug it: hold down the minus volume button and lock button at the same time and as soon as it begins to reboot (screen flashes black for a moment),  unplug the iPod cable from it.
  7. Watch it boot and show  that the Photos and Genres app are missing and a space before the Settings app.

Its that simple and the same ‘SyncTug’ technique can be used on the iPodSettings.xml file to change stuff like wallpaper and whatnot (so far just playing, I’ve altered a few setting with it, have not looked greatly into it). Play around with it and post your findings. In the case you muck something up, just connect it your computer and replace the IconState.plistwith the backup one we made earlier and SyncTug. Failing that, simply restore in iTunes. Something to note also is that if you attempt to press down on an icon and move it, the iPod nano will do a quick reset as it can’t understand why the hell theres a blankspace. The iPod will also sync fine in iTunes and retain this hack.