Microsoft ‘Develops’ iPhone App, World Implodes
There is a difference in the functionality and availability of items on the App Store, depending on which part of the globe you reside on. One of the few which have made us pretty jealous of living in the US (for once) is called BoxOffice.
The clever little program allows you to browse local theaters cinemas to see what’s on, get movie screening times, read reviews courtesy of Rotten Tomatoes, even book tickets from your iPhone! It’s strange how there is still no way of finding out easily which films are showing where, and before the internet we had to sit and wait for page 33 of Ceefax to see what was happening at Swiss Cottage Odeon.
Of course, it uses the GPS location from the sexy iPhone 3G to tell you the nearest cinema too. The interesting part is that it was developed by one dude, C# compiler and all round fly guy Cyrus Najamabadi of Microsoft. Seems like he’s been doing a little moonlighting on his days off…
Having said that, an interesting article from way back on CNN Money shows that Microsoft was totally willing to exploit the possibilities of the iPhone to make some App Store moolah. It is true that for many years there has been a fragile but lucrative alliance between the perceived competitors, with Mac Exchange and Office proving a cash cow for everyone involved. But it’s better to imagine them as bitter rivals in towering skyscrapers facing each other like Romeo & Juliet, isn’t it?
Could BoxOffice be the first product of Microsoft’s devs playing with the SDK? It isn’t like they are going to be plastering the Microsoft name over any apps they develop, unless related to their big guns like Office travelling to the iPhone.
Having said that, those who have enjoyed a sip from both cups say that the Movies.app for jailbroken phones is somewhat better than Apple’s free but official offering. The former also gives users the opportunity to stream trailers, but has the same shortcoming of being confined to American popcorn emporia. Hopefully we’ll see an increase in the amount of practical apps, as well as ones that cater for the global market Apple was so eager to court this time around…
Omio iPhone 3G Update : It’s coming.
Romeo & Juliet Update : It’s been brought to our attention that this was originally a play which featured no skyscrapers, or guns, or car chases…which sounds infinitely more dull. The reference above relates to the movie, not this…play.
Source: Gizmodo
