Injoit.com iPhone developers' blog http://www.injoit.com/blog internet joy it Fri, 26 Jun 2009 20:10:55 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.7 en hourly 1 Getting to know OAuth http://www.injoit.com/blog/2009/06/26/getting-to-know-oauth/ http://www.injoit.com/blog/2009/06/26/getting-to-know-oauth/#comments Fri, 26 Jun 2009 20:10:55 +0000 Taras http://www.injoit.com/blog/?p=232 Today we are having a real life test of our online high scores system because iCombat game version 1.2  got approved by Apple and there has been a flow of users populating the DB with their scores since then.

And suddenly it has stopped working - the online table wouldn’t show and as a result I had to learn a bit more about OAuth system we are using for the authentication purposes.

But want to tell a bit about how it has started. First there was a post here in our blog:
http://www.injoit.com/blog/2009/02/20/an-idea-for-saving-game-scores-online-for-iphone-apps/
where I was thinking aloud on how to make a solution to store the high scores online (for our iPhone games). And then Chris Messina (one of the authors of OAuth) has made his comment ‘Sounds like you’re reinventing OAuth!’. So this is how I opened OAuth for myself and then decided indeed to use it as an authentication for our system.

Later we have decided to make the system open source and now it’s in beta stage, but it’s already installed in 4 iPhone games.

It’s fantastic how OAuth has resolved all our authentication problems and we didn’t have to write it everything from scratch. The only thing I’m afraid of is I’ve just used it as is, picked the standard php+mysql implementation, made a few modifications and that’s it. Still I’m far from understanding of all the aspects of how this thing works.

The example was today when iCombat players started to update it to version 1.2 where our iGetScores system has been implemented and suddenly it just stopped working. The funny thing was that the system still worked for other game so I couldn’t believe the problem was with the server and was looking elsewhere. Then tried to get a request token with my testing web client and got this error:

OAuth Verification Failed: Timestamp is out of sequence. Request rejected.
Got 1246034104 last max is 1246119788 allowed skew is 600

Suddenly I realized that users playing the game have different time zones and therefore after I have tested it in Ukraine and my time was 8 p.m., the users from New York had no chance to add their scores until their local time will be the same (in 5 hours or so).

So I didn’t have a choice but to comment those lines in server where it checks the nonce/timestamp pair. Because if we make any alterations to the iPhone client, we would need to re-submit the game and it might take weeks for Apple testers to check and approve the new version. Everything is working now.

The positive thing is we have learned more about OAuth and will be improving the way we use it in our system in the nearest future.  And huge thanks to Blaine Cook and Chris Messina for developing such a great open authentication system.

And, by the way, if, you’re a game developer or wish to help us with OAuth implementation, please feel free to visit our Google Code side where the iGetScores project is hosted. We’ve made both iPhone client and web server open source and free to download. Just launched it for beta testing and hope some developers will join us to develop and improve the system:
http://code.google.com/p/igetscores/

]]> http://www.injoit.com/blog/2009/06/26/getting-to-know-oauth/feed/ lots of news http://www.injoit.com/blog/2009/06/08/lots-of-news/ http://www.injoit.com/blog/2009/06/08/lots-of-news/#comments Mon, 08 Jun 2009 18:51:32 +0000 Taras http://www.injoit.com/blog/?p=230 Hello everyone, 

Injoit has been working on a number of projects lately - lots of projects for our clients as usual but also we have worked on a number of our own developments including the Color Shake iPhone game, the Online High Scores Server and also Chipmunk level editor + Unity 3D game dev tool.

Right now in this moment the WWDC is starting but since we didn’t manage to get there this time we’ll make sure we work hard here and release our new products as soon as possible during the time when lots of people are occupied with talking there :).

By the way, we plan to make most of the products open source and therefore free so iPhone and game devs are welcome to use, test and participate in the development of our tools.

Also we plan to make public our Incubator internal site so that other developers can join us to develop our ideas or suggest their own projects and find people to collaborate with. 

Our mission remains the same - to create great and useful products and make the world a better place.

Stay tuned!

P.S. here is our Twitter account for you to follow: http://twitter.com/injoit

]]> http://www.injoit.com/blog/2009/06/08/lots-of-news/feed/ Earn by selling your book through App Store http://www.injoit.com/blog/2009/05/13/earn-by-selling-your-book-through-app-store/ http://www.injoit.com/blog/2009/05/13/earn-by-selling-your-book-through-app-store/#comments Wed, 13 May 2009 18:27:18 +0000 Taras http://www.injoit.com/blog/?p=228 Injoit rolls out a proposal for writers and content owners - basically we propose to use our book reader app (customized for your content) to publish it as an application for iPhones.

Making it available on App Store will give you a key to a growing market with great opportunities for revenues.

Check our iPhone book turnkey page for details.

]]> http://www.injoit.com/blog/2009/05/13/earn-by-selling-your-book-through-app-store/feed/ iPhone apps currently selling in App Store developed by Injoit http://www.injoit.com/blog/2009/05/01/iphone-apps-currently-selling-in-app-store-developed-by-injoit/ http://www.injoit.com/blog/2009/05/01/iphone-apps-currently-selling-in-app-store-developed-by-injoit/#comments Fri, 01 May 2009 16:25:25 +0000 Taras http://www.injoit.com/blog/?p=226 Here are some of the apps developed by us and already selling in the app store.

Also, some great apps are pending review and are to be seen soon!

iCombat - tanks game
http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewSoftware?id=309676121&mt=8

MyMakeup - make up application for kids
http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewSoftware?id=308690247&mt=8

Maxi Dice - dice game (Yatzee type)
http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewSoftware?id=302875350&mt=8

Thumb Wars - small touch game
http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewSoftware?id=305996685&mt=8

Jonas Wish - small fun app
http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewSoftware?id=305802591&mt=8

PopHead - small fun app
http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewSoftware?id=310731594&mt=8

]]> http://www.injoit.com/blog/2009/05/01/iphone-apps-currently-selling-in-app-store-developed-by-injoit/feed/ Knowledge base: How to prepare graphics for the development of iPhone application http://www.injoit.com/blog/2009/04/24/knowledge-base-how-to-prepare-graphics-for-the-development-of-iphone-application/ http://www.injoit.com/blog/2009/04/24/knowledge-base-how-to-prepare-graphics-for-the-development-of-iphone-application/#comments Fri, 24 Apr 2009 13:57:25 +0000 Taras http://www.injoit.com/blog/?p=222 Have just added a new guide to our Knowledge base

How to prepare graphics for the development of iPhone application

[click the link above to access the most up to date version of the document in Injoit's Knowledge Base]

This might be useful for our clients - helps to save both their and developers’ time.

Posting current version here:

This is a guideline for Injoit’s clients on how to prepare graphics for us to develop your iPhone applications.
Please follow this as it will help to save lots of time for both Client and developers.
1. Size
please note the iPhone screen size is 480 x 320 pixels 
we need all the graphics 1:1 
in some cases (splash screen, game background etc) you need to prepare full size images 480 x 320 
in other cases (moving elements, buttons etc) we need just the graphics for the element (no background) - but it should be 1:1, PNG and with proper transparency and alpha channel
examples: 
  • sun moving over the sky - we need 480 x 320 px background image + 1 image of the sun (1:1 size, cropped) with alpha channel and transparent background
  • button with a highlight effect (or small animated element) - we need the images for the different states of the element - 1:1, cropped, transparent background and same positioning (i.e. different states of the same object should be cropped in the same way - different positioning in relation to top left corner will cause jumping or moving effects)
2. Format and compression
Usually it’s better to use PNG. 
Please use the lowest number of colors and lowest quality which is acceptable for you. 
For example, usually it’s not necessary to have 256 colors for PNG - save it with 128 colors (but check if it still looks good for you).
3. Positioning
All animated elements when supplied in a series of images should have the same positioning - i.e. distance from ‘zero point’ - top left corner - of the image - should be the same unless you want it jumping or moving.
4. Transparency
For non-background elements (buttons, characters etc) - please check you have your images with transparent background and alpha channel enabled (for PNG).
5. File names
Please organize file names and folders so that it’s easier to understand which element goes where and which are different frames of the same element. 
When sending the new versions of the same files - please keep the filenames the same too (remove “copy” or “copy 2″ added by Photoshop)
6. 3D and OpenGL
There is a rule for OpenGL textures that the sizes should be a power of 2 - so when sending graphics for 3D objects - please make sizes a power of 2 ( 4 x 4, 8 x 8, 256 x 256, 1024 x 1024 etc)
7. Fonts
Here you may check which fonts are system for iPhone SDK and therefore could be displayed programmatically (no need to make graphics for text in this case):

8. Useful resources
The iPhone UI mockup PSD file is attached to this document. Please use it when making graphics in Photoshop.
Check out a great tool to create iPhone mockups:
]]> http://www.injoit.com/blog/2009/04/24/knowledge-base-how-to-prepare-graphics-for-the-development-of-iphone-application/feed/ Google dance http://www.injoit.com/blog/2009/04/03/google-dance/ http://www.injoit.com/blog/2009/04/03/google-dance/#comments Fri, 03 Apr 2009 11:29:25 +0000 Taras http://www.injoit.com/blog/?p=218 Updates of Google Page Rank brought happy increase in ratings for our projects.

Examples:

injoit.com -  3 -> 4

this blog - 2 -> 3

uslugi.net ukrainian business directory -  3 -> 4

great news!

]]> http://www.injoit.com/blog/2009/04/03/google-dance/feed/ iCombat launched! http://www.injoit.com/blog/2009/04/03/icombat-launched/ http://www.injoit.com/blog/2009/04/03/icombat-launched/#comments Fri, 03 Apr 2009 11:21:17 +0000 Taras http://www.injoit.com/blog/?p=212 Hey iCombat game is already selling in appstore we are excited about it as well as the client obviously. Can’t sleep these days as it’s very important how people will accept it, what the first reviews and ratings will be etc.

Check iCombat website

Or buy it in iTunes (less than 1$ currently and great updates to the game are about to come soon!)

]]> http://www.injoit.com/blog/2009/04/03/icombat-launched/feed/ Google Apps team solution http://www.injoit.com/blog/2009/03/28/google-apps-team-solution/ http://www.injoit.com/blog/2009/03/28/google-apps-team-solution/#comments Sat, 28 Mar 2009 02:58:27 +0000 Taras http://www.injoit.com/blog/?p=210 Following the advice of Sandeep, my colleague, CEO to Indianic, I have moved all our corporate e-mails to Google Apps.

This is wonderful!

Every member of the team gets 7Gb of e-mail space, all the great Gmail functionality + you can set it up so you still use your domain name (injoit.com in our case). No problem of losing any single e-mail of your clients anymore, no spam, easy access through POP3 or webmail.

Morevover, members of your team can use all the great Google features such as Calendar, Contacts, Sites, Docs, Chat and there is a great permissions management service so you can actually choose between storing data privately, sharing it with your team or making it public.

This is just great bunch of solutions from Google coming for free so thanks very much for them as they will help to do our business more effeciently.

In case you would also like to set up an account, start here:

http://www.google.com/a/cpanel/domain/new?hl=en

]]> http://www.injoit.com/blog/2009/03/28/google-apps-team-solution/feed/ iPhone apps portfolio updated http://www.injoit.com/blog/2009/03/25/iphone-apps-portfolio-updated/ http://www.injoit.com/blog/2009/03/25/iphone-apps-portfolio-updated/#comments Wed, 25 Mar 2009 16:49:33 +0000 Taras http://www.injoit.com/blog/?p=208 We have updated our iPhone applications portfolio. More projects are currently in development or being reviewed by Apple testers, so check later for more exciting stuff developed by Injoit.

]]> http://www.injoit.com/blog/2009/03/25/iphone-apps-portfolio-updated/feed/ Drop.io http://www.injoit.com/blog/2009/03/12/dropio/ http://www.injoit.com/blog/2009/03/12/dropio/#comments Thu, 12 Mar 2009 16:02:25 +0000 Taras http://www.injoit.com/blog/?p=206 Our client Miguel just showed me what looks like real-time Basecamp - a project management / repository tool where you see in real time how project documents, sources etc get added and how people do things and chat.

Check it here: http://drop.io/

]]> http://www.injoit.com/blog/2009/03/12/dropio/feed/