UFO spotted at equinux HQ
During today’s lunch break a surprise arrived for the team. After an exciting unboxing ceremony, we spent a little time with the new iPhone-controlled Parrot AR Drone helicopter quadricopter (all in the name of science, of course):
Once the initial setup (including a firmware update, quadricoptor reboot and iPhone reboot) was done, the Drone was off on its first flight. We’re happy to report it survived the afternoon – despite a few close encounters with a door, a fence and various other obstacles that just seemed to get in the way…
Our verdict? Two thumbs up!
equinux AR Drone from Team equinux on Vimeo.
Talking about: Grace Periods
Most people have been in the position where they’ve bought a MacBook or iPod only to find out a new version came out a few days later. We feel miffed the company didn’t tell us beforehand, cheated us out of our hard-earned money. Software developers are, after all, some of the best tech consumers: we know what it feels like when this happens.
For this reason many companies offer grace periods, a time-frame in which all users who bought the software get an upgrade for free or at a reduced rate. This is a rather unique phenomenon in business. When you buy a car and a new model comes out next week, you don’t expect a free upgrade.
Development costs
Software companies must fight a balance between what is fair and how much money is needed to cover development costs. Developing software takes time. A lot of time. While we’d love people to enjoy innovative, user-friendly and useful software for free, we all know this just isn’t feasible.
A big cat with sharp claws
Apple added to the confusion when they introduced Snow Leopard at a record low price of $29.00 and a lengthy grace period to boot. “If Apple can let me upgrade my entire OS for just shipping costs, I think you could too.” Believe us when we say there were ulterior motives behind this. Snow Leopard was, after all, marketed as a major bug fix to Leopard – not many software developers can get away with charging for bug fixes which shouldn’t have been there in the first place.
Thanking the loyal
Rewarding our existing customers is a priority. Whether you bought our software one week or five years ago, there will be some kind of discount available. The best way to access your upgrades is via your License Manager. Simply choose your software and click Upgrade Details.
And yes, we always offer a grace period with new software releases. If you qualify you should receive an email from us shortly after a new version is released.
Get selling in seconds with iSale express
eBay as a service is evolving, and so are the ways in which people use it. What was for a long time a way of easily selling second-hand items you had lying around, has now become a way for businesses to reach new customers.
Over the years eBay has grown and added layers of complexity and detail, which provide buyers with ever more information to be able to make good buying decisions. For sellers, however, this doesn’t always make things easier.
That’s why today we’re releasing iSale express, billed as the lightweight and lightning fast way to create eBay auctions. People who want to sell items occasionally and with a minimum of fuss can load up iSale express and start selling in seconds. Simply choose one of three classy templates, add your own photos and write a description. Your auctions will be automatically updated so you can follow your bids in one place.
iSale express uses the same engine as iSale 5.6, meaning it automatically pulls the correct categories and item specifics directly from eBay. Whilst iSale 5.6 offers innovative features such as the Research Assistant or the ability to use multiple accounts, iSale express offers a basic feature set so there’s no learning curve to selling on eBay.
So if you’re looking to make some ready cash, you now have two great options. Sell in seconds with iSale express, or start making your fortune with iSale 5.6.
