Letter criticises App Store policies as EU opens antitrust investigation

A developer has penned an open letter criticising the App Store’s policies just a week after the EU announced it’s launched an antitrust investigation.

In a letter, Basecamp CEO Jason Fried set out his issues with the App Store’s payment policies.

Fried admits that money, specifically the 30 percent cut which Apple takes, is “a large part of the story” – but it’s the “absence of choice and how Apple forcibly inserts themselves between [the] company and...

By | 22 June 2020 | App Stores

Ethereum officially kicks off its One Million Devs initiative

Blockchain giant Ethereum has ”officially” kicked off its One Million Devs initiative as the platform aims to build upon its already substantial developer base.

Despite many projects eying its throne, Ethereum remains the largest decentralised app (DApp) platform and the second largest cryptocurrency in terms of market cap. The Ethereum Enterprise Alliance includes hundreds of giants like Intel, Microsoft, JP Morgan, and more.

The ambitious goal of Ethereum to...

By | 20 January 2020 | Blockchain

Huawei sets out its post-Google plans with release of HMS Core 4.0

Huawei has unveiled further details about its replacements to Google’s services as it prepares to lose access following US sanctions.

During an event in London, Huawei made its pitch as to why developers should port their apps to HMS (Huawei Mobile Services).

The first reason is a cash incentive. Huawei announced that it will use a pot of £20 million ($26 million) to help persuade developers to bring their apps to HMS.

Anson Zhang, MD of Huawei UK, said:...

By | 17 January 2020 | AI

Why privacy and integrity matters in a mainframe network

Mainframes are the foundation for many critical systems, from bank databases to municipal systems for local governments. It's estimated that 70% of Fortune 500 companies have mainframes in their infrastructure. This hardware holds a lot of sensitive data, which puts it in a vulnerable position. Privacy and data integrity must be maintained for the mainframe systems to ensure that this information isn't accessed without authorisation,...

By | 6 January 2020 | Ecosystem

Utopia looks to create a self-regulating society with P2P ecosystem and mineable cryptocurrency

The vitality of the Internet is such that any reference to Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, first published in 1943, today usually comes with a half-joking reference to Wi-Fi. Indeed, you would not be reading this piece now without it. Yet one particularly promising area for distributed ledger technologies (DLT) is around user and data privacy for Internet usage.

Meet Utopia. The product, which launches today from anonymous group of networking enthusiasts who call themselves The...

By | 12 December 2019 | Development Tools

App revenue is soaring with $21.9bn spent in Q3 alone, up 22.9% YoY

Research from Sensor Tower reveals a range of insights about the app development industry and its rapid growth.

Sensor Tower’s research shows app development is a more lucrative business than ever with almost $22 billion spent in the third quarter alone. The huge spending represents an increase of close to 23 percent over last year’s Q3 2019 spend of $17.9 billion.

As the chart above shows, the App Store remains the most lucrative distributor of...

By | 11 October 2019 | Android

International Game Developers Association teams up with Skillz to monetise eSports

California-based mobile eSports platform Skillz is working with the International Game Developers Association (IGDA) to enable game developers with new tools to build sustainable businesses by retaining, engaging, and monetising their content.

This partnership will connect 30 million registered players and more than 20,000 new game developers from Skillz to the IGDA's existing network of 10,000...

By | 13 September 2019 | Ecosystem

How to get started with open source projects: A guide

So you want to start dabbling in open source? There are tons of reasons why contributing to open source projects is a rewarding use of time–from advancing your career to supporting a community you like. But contributing to an open source project for the first time can be incredibly intimidating.

Like many, I was apprehensive about contributing to open source projects at first. I kept putting it off, thinking that I would eventually help out when I had...

By | 23 July 2019 | Development Tools

Huawei founder provides more details about HongMeng OS

Huawei founder Ren Zhengfei has provided more details about the company’s upcoming Android replacement OS, HongMeng.

Speaking to French outlet Le Point, Zhengfei boasted of HongMeng’s speed. Zhengfei claims the new OS has a processing delay of under five milliseconds and that it will be faster than Android or even macOS.

Developer understands Huawei has been working on its alternative OS since a 2012 US investigation into the company and fellow Chinese firm ZTE....

By | 8 July 2019 | Android

Google is free to supply Huawei with Android once more

President Trump will have caused a collective sigh of relief at Huawei over the weekend after Google was given the go-ahead to restore its Android license.

Huawei is the world’s second largest smartphone manufacturer. Despite only having a small presence in the US, it achieved its position using American software and standards.

Amid security concerns and the ongoing trade dispute between the US and China, Huawei found itself on an ‘Entity List’ which prevented...

By | 1 July 2019 | Android