SEAN TINER

If you desire to learn how to create your own iPhone application and have little or no programming experience, then this blog post is for you! Background: A year and a half ago, I launched my first iPhone application, Parlay Calculator Pro . It was a rush to have my idea released to the public and see its initial response. I launched a calculator application, because I read online that calculators were easier for programmers to develop. I really don't have an interest in sport parlays, but after some initial research I realized that there were only 5 parlay applications at the time compared to thousands of mortgage or car loan calculators. Within the first day of its release, Parlay Calculator Pro reached over 50 downloads! This meant that there were more people than the 10 or so friends that I texted who downloaded my application! ...Little did I realize that 50 free downloads is actually insignificant. A year and a half later, I have accumulated over free 430,000 down...

This month, Apple updated its iPhone operating system to the new iOS7. From its brilliant aesthetic layout to several internal updates, such as enhanced camera functionality, there are several new features that bring applause Apple's iOS team. 250+ Unread emails after the iOS7 update However, one of my dislikes is how my email inbox suddenly displayed 250+ unread messages. The majority of these unread emails were being imported from my Gmail account. Some of these unread messages dated back to 2005; 3 years before the first iPhone was released. I already seen all these emails – either they were single word email received responses with "ok" or "thanks" or they were sales emails from online retailers and I was not interesting in reading them. In an effort to display less then ten emails in my email icon, I figured out how to quickly mark all of the emails as "read."  3 Simple Steps to Marking All Gmails as "Read"  It'...

Laguna Beach Main Beach Lifeguard Tower (C) Tiner, captured with an iPhone     Laguna Beach Lifeguard Main Beach Tower (C) Tiner captured with an iPhone

(Version 1 -Standard Graph Template) (Version 2 -Aesthetic Version) The two images tell the same story, but in different ways. The first image uses a standard, out-of-the-box graph to show how the iPhone market is predicted to grow overtime. It is an easy and boring approach to quickly share a fact. The second image tells the same fact, but in a creative way. Viewers can visually understand the trend without seeing a standard template. When you are presenting your next BIG idea, make sure to present it a little differently. It will allow you to engage your viewers and show that you are really presenting the next BIG idea and not some out-of-the-box concept.

What separates a luxury product from a generic product? Is it the product's quality? Or is it strictly the price that makes the product appear exclusive? Cha-Ching! Recently, the "I Am Rich" Iphone application sold for $999 on Apple's App Store. Very expensive, considering Iphone applications normally retail between one to five dollars. The "I Am Rich's" features are extremely basic and trivial. I would actually be surprised if they turned a grin on Richie-Richie's face. Despite the exorbitant price, eight people purchased they "I Am Rich" application before Apple removed it from the App Store. What can we learn from the "I Am Rich" application? Well, that a niche of Iphone users are interested in exclusivity more than price and function. The Wall Street Journal reports that Apple's Iphone App Store is generating $1 million in daily sales and Steve Jobs expects annual revenues to reach a billion dollars in a few years. As ...

Apple's new Iphone 3G will be released on Friday. One of the phone's new features is the application store, where consumers can download new programs. Several of the applications sound exciting and quirky , but it's Loopt , a geosocial networking application that will alter the dial tone. Loopt allows users to see where their social networking friends are located and receive alerts when they are in near proximity. Are consumers really ready for this? Are you ready to know where that old class mate is constantly located? How about that person you met once at a party, but never saw again? You are friends with them on Facebook, Myspace or Bebo, so why shouldn't you have access to their location 24/7? ...Right? The benefits of geosocial networking sound cool in theory, but how much of our personal lives are we willing to reveal public and constantly accessible? As new applications and Internet media are created, it's interesting to see how the public responds.

Stirring it up, Blendtec's successful viral marketing campaign illustrates how an ordinary company can blend big results. A household consumer product is a challenge to market, especially because it's not a glamorous luxury good or a product that augments a person's beauty. A company can always select a cute animal to be the product's spokesperson. Think of the success of Geico's Gecko or Aflack's Duck. ...Did we know these companies existed before the introduction of these mascots? Using a lovable animal is an excellent strategy to create awareness and knowledge for a company, but does it really highlight the features of a product? Can you actually remember how much on insurance you will save with either of these companies? Then again, a company can always us an attractive person to endorse a product, but what will the audience focus on? ...the product? ...or the model? Thinking outside the blender, Blendtec's Total Blender is serving up a full glass of ma...

(Excerpt from my thesis: Thinking Beyond Web 2.0: Leveraging the Dynamics of Generation-Y to Build Business ) According to Seth Godin, a best-selling author of business books and a famous marketing consultant, ten years ago the third most popular website on the Internet was Jennicam , a site that allowed voyeurs to watch a young girl frolic in her bedroom ( Permission Marketing, 1999 ). Internet surfers were intrigued by the mystique and realness of watching a young girl share her secrets with the world. ...Sound familiar? ....Remember Lonelygirl15 ? Flash forward approximately 10 years from Jennicam and you are introduced to Youtube.com's Lonelygirl15 aka Jessica Lee Rose, a 19 year-old entrepreneur who used Jennicam 's strategy to garner attention and propel herself to Internet stardom. In fact, Forbes Magazine made her #1 on 2007's " The Web Celeb 25 " list, a ranking of the Internet's most influential people ( Forbes.com ). If we flash forward anoth...