iSale express template: The votes are in!
Update:
iSale express 1.0.2 – including two new template choices – is now available! Existing customers can also download this free update by choosing “iSale express > Check for updates” from the menu bar.
Last week we asked you to vote for a new iSale express template. Thanks for all your votes! This is the first time we’ve done something like this and it was great to see so many of you participate…
This was a neck-and-neck race, so we’ve double-checked the results. It really was incredibly close:
- Black Grid: 33 %
- Plain White: 31 %
- For Sale: 16 %
- Paper Card: 10 %
- Blue Smoke: 8 %
- Galaxy Swirl: 2 %
And the winner is:
As you can see, there were two clear favorites, but Black Grid narrowly beat the runner-up to become the next iSale express template!
But wait! There’s one more thing…
Since the votes were really so close, we’ve decided to give you not just one, but two new templates in iSale express. We’re pleased to announce, that with the next update, we’ll add Black Grid and Plain White, bringing the total number of templates to 5.
Here are the 2 new templates, as chosen by you guys:
We plan on releasing this iSale express update with two new templates sometime this fall, so watch this space…
Have your vote on iSale express
A few weeks ago we released our latest eBay selling tool, iSale express. We have received tons of great feedback with the overwhelming majority saying they would love an additional and more basic template to use when listing items on eBay.
We want to give you the opportunity to vote on which template should be included with the next iSale express update. Simply choose from the list below and click vote. You can take a look at each of the templates in the gallery below. Voting ends Sunday 19th September so vote now!
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- Black Grid
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- Blue Smoke
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- For Sale
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- Galaxy Swirl
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- Paper Card
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- Plain White
Update:
The results are in – thanks for voting!
Rock or Pop with iTunes 10 and CoverScout
A few weeks ago we posted a blog entry on SongGenie and the latest changes in iTunes 9.2.1. Some of you reported that your genres were showing up as numbers rather than real names, a known problem at that time.
iTunes 10 is out with lots of cool new features that really make your cover art and song information stand out. We are happy to report that the latest versions of SongGenie 2 and CoverScout 3 are fully compatible with iTunes 10 and you can once again tag your music with confidence.
If you have songs with the incorrect genre still showing, they can be quickly fixed using iTunes:
- Select some tracks with the same genre
- Choose File > Get Info
- Retype the genre
- Click OK
We’ve tested and included a few tweaks in the latest CoverScout and SongGenie. Get them from our website now.
Chopsticks at the ready
Have you ever wondered how they use chop sticks to eat ribs in Japan?
During his frequent trips to Asia, equinux CEO Till often wonders how equinux apps might fare in the Japanese market. As a company based in Germany and the US and with little experience of Japanese culture, we knew our best chance of success would be to find a Japanese native speaker. With a new team member on board, we started work on preparing Barbecue for the iPhone and iPad, Japanese style! 日本語の記事はこちら(^_-)-☆
Teething problems
It quickly became clear that the concept of a barbecue was very different in Japan compared to our own experiences. Whereas barbecuing is often a weekly or monthly affair in Europe or the US during the summer, Japanese families might only barbecue every couple of years when camping. Alternatively, they would head to a restaurant and enjoy Korean style barbecue food. After reading our product descriptions for the apps, our Japanese colleague started asking the sort of seemingly obvious questions that actually make you stop and think:
“Why do you flame grill food?”
“Doesn’t it go black and burnt?”
“Is ‘the grill’ the metal shelf, or the entire contraption?”
Questions unsatisfyingly answered, our Japanese colleague went away and localized the app for a Japanese audience. Like any localization, a simple translation was not enough. Indeed, why would a Japanese iPhone user want to use a knife and fork? We need chopsticks!
Suck it and see
Together with our art director, we found the right chopsticks for the sort of barbecue a family would enjoy on a Japanese riverside. Localizing an app in Japanese was a voyage into the unknown for the team. We had no idea how long sentences would be, or how fonts would appear in the app and on our website. Writing strings also takes a lot of consideration. Where in English there is one level of formality, there are two in German and at least three in Japanese.
Barbecue in Japanese went live a week after submitting to Apple. Having never marketed in the land of the rising sun before, we looked to create a list of journalists and bloggers active in the country. In addition, we tweeted a message in Japanese, as well as a targeted update for our Facebook fans based there. Updates like these can be a great way of testing the water for marketing an app.
Just a starter?
We’ve been fascinated by the localization process, and have found it to be a reasonably smooth process. It’s always however fascinating to look at your own culture from an outsider’s perspective. We believe we have a lot more we to offer in the Japanese market, so stay tuned…
Barbecue is available now for the iPhone and iPad
日本語を、どうぞ。
Is your Japanese a bit rusty? Read the story of Barbecue in English.
equinuxは日本語を始めました(^_^)！
弊社の第一弾としてiPhoneとiPad上でバーベキューが焼けるアップを発売しました。キャンプ場に頻繁に行けないあなたや、焼肉店に毎日行けないあなたにも、心を込めて旨い肉を焼くあの優雅なひと時を提供します。アップはその名も「Barbecue(バーベキュー, iPhone用)」と「Barbecue HD(バーベキュー エイチディー, iPad用)」(^-^) そして今日はアップ作成の裏話をご紹介 (^_-)-☆
バーベキューとドイツ人
驚く事に、統計では70%以上のドイツ人家庭はバーベキューをするためのグリルを保有しています。どうしてドイツ人はこんなにバーベキューが好きなんでしょう？？
ドイツの夏は日本の秋の気候に近く、肌寒くて雨もよく降り晴れた日は数えるほどしかありません。なので、暖かく晴れた日は裏庭のグリルを囲んで友達とワイワイ騒ぎます。もちろんビール片手に (^○^) 日本で言うと冬の鍋パーティでしょうか？旨いものを食べながら友達のネットワークを広げる夏の風物詩、それがバーベキューです。弊社CEOのティル・シャデも例に漏れず大のバーベキュー好き！この為我が社はこのアップを作ってしまいました (*_*)
作成はすべてドイツ語で行われ、アップが完成してから日本語版に翻訳しようとしたのですが、、、、日本の「焼肉文化」とドイツの「バーベキュー文化」の違いから単なる翻訳な～んてもんじゃない開発者の苦労がありました (ToT) では例を2つご紹介！
裏話その１
Cutlery(カットラリー)って何？？ナイフやフォークなど、食べる為の器具を総称してカットラリーと呼ぶのですが、伝統的にお箸が唯一の器具だった日本語としてはそんなカテゴリーの名前なんてありません！これを４文字以内に翻訳！さ～てどうやって訳したでしょうか？アップでご確認ください。
裏話その２
2つ目はテーブルマナー。日本版に合わせてアップは箸の選択肢を含んでいます。箸をテーブルに置くときの作法って、お皿と食べる人の間に水平に置きますよね？でもナイフとフォークは両サイドに離して垂直に置きます。お皿や器具の配置を設計したのは勿論ドイツ人チームなので、日本の作法通りに箸を置くスペースはなく、、、解決策はアップのスクリーンショットをご覧下さい！
そんなこんなでミュンヘン初のアップが日本上陸！ただいまiTunes App StoreにてiPhone用のBarbecueとiPad用のBarbecue HDを好評発売中！割引のプロモコードも順次お送りさせていただいております！
もっと詳しい制作現場の裏話はこちらからご覧いただけます。equinuxは今後も日本語版をどんどん発売していきま〜す (^_-)-☆
