[Ed Hansberry]

http://www.handango.com/pdf/HandangoYardStick1_2003.pdf

(Adobe Reader Required)

"Handango, the leading platform and publisher for mobile software, today released the Handango Yardstick, a quarterly report on the state of the mobile software economy. This quarter, the Handango Yardstick focuses on the effects that new wireless PDAs and data-capable phones are having on the mobile software market. "

A few interesting facts:
• The #1 PDA adding software is the iPAQ 3000 series
• Average selling price of applications has dropped from $17.65 to $16.25 USD.
• Smartphone users buy 291% more software than do users of data capable phones. I guess they are busy buying ringtones instead. :wink:

I'm curious. Have you purchased an app over the air (GPRS, WiFi, etc.) for your handheld?

[Ed Hansberry]

http://www.handango.com/pdf/HandangoYardStick1_2003.pdf

(Adobe Reader Required)

"Handango, the leading platform and publisher for mobile software, today released the Handango Yardstick, a quarterly report on the state of the mobile software economy. This quarter, the Handango Yardstick focuses on the effects that new wireless PDAs and data-capable phones are having on the mobile software market. "

A few interesting facts:
• The #1 PDA adding software is the iPAQ 3000 series
• Average selling price of applications has dropped from $17.65 to $16.25 USD.
• Smartphone users buy 291% more software than do users of data capable phones. I guess they are busy buying ringtones instead. :wink:

I'm curious. Have you purchased an app over the air (GPRS, WiFi, etc.) for your handheld?

[rlobrecht]

I don't like surfing the net on my iPaq. The screen is too small. Since I don't spend much time surfing, I've never been shopping. However, I have downloaded books out of my Peanut Press library over the air. I would probably even buy books, but I never have.

[Looxer]

I use GPRS daily!!! I really enjoy surfing the net with my iPAQ when I’m on the GO! I don’t consider downloading applications on air due to many reasons one of them is the downloading speed and the convenience, I am more comfortable of loading my iPAQ with great stuff at home :wink:

[disconnected]

I'm not usually away from home for long enough to desperately need a new app before I get back to my PC, so I've never bothered to try.

However, I have bought and downloaded books from Peanut Press using WiFi.

[Ed Hansberry]

Originally Posted by Disconnected

However, I have bought and downloaded books from Peanut Press using WiFi.

I thought I was strange for doing that but I have done that twice in the past few months. I use Resco File Explorer to unzip it. Man I love that site!

[daS]

For me (and I asume most of the votes in the "other" category), it's not the cost, but the time it takes when there are much faster methods.

While direct downloads to PDAs and smart phones may be appealing in countries where people generally don't have access to broadband (many in Asia), I can't see it being very useful here.

The exception being vertical applications that can be sent directly to the user without the need for ActiveSync. But in that case, the user wouldn't be purchasing from the handheld, just downloading.

[djdj]

You need one more poll option:

No: My wireless connection isn't reliable enough to risk it

This used to be the case for me, but it isn't any longer; GPRS is very reliable in my area now. I figure reliability is probably still is an issue for some areas. GPRS is too new, and even WiFi isn't perfect.

[Peter Fry]

A few years ago we talked about changing the UI of our site to facilitate buying books over wireless networks, and we did a quick back of the napkin calculation. At the time, you'd spend more money on the connection costs downloading than for the price of the book itself.

This was back in the early Palm VII days when the networks were slow and expensive. Times have improved greatly. I'm glad to hear good reports back, and I encourage people to send feedback to info@palmdigitalmedia.com on the good and the bad.

As for the unzipping utility, as a few people alluded to, but never explicitly said: Just buy the book, and then download each book individually from your account. The books won't be zipped; they'll just be the .PDB files. There isn't a way to get the current version of the reader software without a desktop machine currently, however.

As an off topic aside, I'm changing the front end UI of the Palm Reader for PocketPC. Now would be the best time to request features/point out shortcomings/praise particular behavior that you want to remain the same.

[Ed Hansberry]

Just a heads up - Peter Fry is the guy responsible for the Palm ebook reader on the Pocket PC as well as other platforms.

[dochall]

Originally Posted by Ed Hansberry

Just a heads up - Peter Fry is the guy responsible for the Palm ebook reader on the Pocket PC as well as other platforms.

:werenotworthy: :werenotworthy: :werenotworthy: