作者：Neil Long

iPhone不仅打造了全新软件及游戏市场，同时还带来一个新兴媒介行业。随着预期发行日期的逼近，有关iPhone 5库存的传言也日益高涨，苹果越是拒绝评论这类言论，推测就越是激烈。

iphone 5 from edge-online.com

我们每天都会看到各种爆料及所谓的内部消息，而这些消息总是在经过仔细验证后真相大白，技术网站企图以此填补苹果向来神秘作风所留下的空白。去年的改良版iPhone 4S并没有像众人预期的那样，实现较大突破，但据互联网消息预测，全面改良的iPhone 5今年底将于市场发行。

新模式给移动平台带来新机会，但若是询问相关商业人士他们对于新模式的预期就会发现，他们对于硬件本身只是一时兴起。

BitMonster总裁Lee Perry表示，“全面来看，这并非主要围绕硬件设备，而更多是关于控制各公司对苹果系统的运用。关于iOS平台，App Store需要进行更新。他们有效制止开发商通过各种手段入驻前10榜单，但其中风险很高，不择手段的公司会继续寻找各种漏洞。这将腐蚀苹果的精英管理模式。”

Imangi工作室成员Keith Shepherd（游戏邦注：他是《神庙逃亡》的联合开发者）对此表示同意，“我认为我们可以简化内容的发现过程，但我认为这并不会成为管理商店的最佳方式，因为其中内容非常丰富。”

为帮助开发者解决不可避免的曝光度问题，我们看到另一新兴行业逐步浮出水面。 Flurry和Tapjoy不过是这一新兴行业的两个代表，他们介于工作室和平台所有者苹果之间，提供营销、调查和咨询服务。二者都预测苹果会迎合市场需求，在下个设备中提供新的解决方案，但即便是刚刚重新设计过的iPhone和App Store，曝光度问题也似乎依然没有得到完全消除。

Tapjoy欧洲副总裁兼总经理Paul Bowen表示，“苹果收购了Chomp，所以他们多半是想要完善自身的搜索功能，我猜想苹果和谷歌都会积极为他们的用户强化曝光体验。但我想未来将会出现越来越多Tapjoy之类的公司，因为我认为平台所有者很难提供有效的曝光度解决方案。未来行业将需要靠第三方公司解决这一问题，我们目前就处理得非常不错。”

Flurry欧洲总经理Richard Firminger表示，苹果逐步完善App Store排行榜的运作方式，但目前尚没有较大突破。他表示，“安装数量只应作为排行榜算法的一部分。若你推进或购买到足够安装量，你就能够在榜单上置于靠前位置。这变成较量谁资金更雄厚的榜单，这是很多年前的互联网搜索形态。总之，我觉得算法应变得更复杂化，不要变成一场游戏较量。那么问题就会迎刃而解。”

所以如果我们勉强接受曝光度问题不会完全得到解决的现实，开发者还会争取什么？Imangi成员Keith Shepherd表示，“我觉得如果能看到App Store预告片也非常不错。我希望他们能够继续完善Game Center和iCloud，因为这些服务对于我们开发者来说非常有价值。这意味着我们不需要运行自己的服务器基础设施，这对于小公司来说这非常重要。”

“它们给开发者带来众多其他平台所没有的有价值服务——促使我们能够在iOS上制作比Android平台更丰富、更有优质的作品。”

对于开发者来说，Android设备的扩散问题也促使iOS平台变得更加富有吸引力。就像运行后端服务，小型工作室没有资源将他们的游戏移植至越来越多的设备中。BitMonster Perry表示，“就硬件角度来看苹果设备，我们不确定有关屏幕纵横比将发生改变的传言是否属实。这是另一需要克服的障碍，因为用户基础将分散化。”

苹果在iPhone 5（游戏邦注：或是将此称作下代苹果智能手机）遭遇一个愉快的两难境地。其行业繁衍成就造就这样一个生态系统：各公司依赖于苹果做出的各项决定。过度改变下代iPhone设备及App Store，苹果可能会分化其用户基础，或是丧失开发社区的支持。而相反地，大胆开创新技术及新功能能够让公司接触到更多有趣的新市场。就各困境而言，这一源自巨大影响力的两难处境实在没什么值得抱怨的。（本文为游戏邦/gamerboom.com编译，拒绝任何不保留版权的转载，如需转载请联系：游戏邦）

iPhone 5 and the future of the App Store

by Neil Long

Tapjoy, BitMonster, Imangi and Flurry tell Neil Long what Apple needs to do next.

The iPhone has not only forged new software and game markets, but a new media industry too. Stock in iPhone 5 rumour stories continues to rise as the (assumed) product launch draws closer, and the longer Apple refuses to comment on such bluster, the more the ferocity of the speculation builds.

Leaks and tip-offs from sources are published, scrutinised and ultimately debunked daily as tech sites happily step in to fill the void left by Apple’s (in)famous secrecy. Last year’s revised iPhone 4S wasn’t the leap forward many had anticipated, but assumed internet knowledge suggests that the more comprehensively revised iPhone 5 will arrive later this year.

With a new model comes fresh opportunities for the mobile space, but ask those in the trade what they’d like to see from the new model and there’s only passing interest in the hardware itself.

“Across the board it’s less about hardware and more about managing how companies are using their systems,” says BitMonster president Lee Perry. “On iOS, the App Store is in need of an update. They are doing a good job combating the tactics of people forcing their way into the top ten, but the stakes are so high that unscrupulous companies continue to find exploits. That erodes the meritocracy.”

Imangi’s Keith Shepherd, co-creator of Temple Run, agrees. “I think there’s something that can be done to make it easier to find content, but I don’t think there will ever be the perfect way to organise the store because there’s so much on there,” he tells us.

To help developers solve that inescapable discoverability problem, yet another new industry has risen. Flurry and Tapjoy are just two of this new breed, sitting in between studios and platform holder Apple to offer marketing, research and consultancy services. Both foresee Apple listening to the market’s call for a solution with its next device, but it seems that, even with a newly redesigned iPhone and App Store, the discoverability problem won’t disappear completely.

“Apple bought Chomp, so they want to improve their search functionality and I fully expect both Apple and Google to be working to enhance the discovery experience for users,” says Tapjoy Europe’s vice president and general manager Paul Bowen. “But I think we’re going to find more and more companies like Tapjoy popping up because I don’t think the platform owners can provide the silver bullet for discovery. There’s always going to be an opportunity for someone to come along and solve that problem, and we’re solving it very well at the moment.”

Flurry’s European managing director Richard Firminger has seen Apple gradually improve how the App Store’s charts function, but there’s not been the great leap forward it needs just yet. “Volumes of installs only need to be part of the [App Store chart] algorithm,” he says. “If you drive or buy enough installs it gets you up the rankings. It becomes a chart ranking measure of who’s got the biggest and deepest pockets, which is where [internet] search was years and years ago. Overall I think the algorithm needs to get more complex and less easy to game. Then the problem will go away.”

So if we begrudgingly accept that the discoverability issue won’t ever be completely solved, what else do developers want? “I think seeing trailers on the App Store would be cool too,” adds Imangi’s Keith Shepherd. “I hope they continue to make improvements to Game Center and iCloud, because they’re great services that provide a lot of value for us as developers. It means that we don’t have to run our own server infrastructure, and for small companies that’s very important.

“They provide a tremendous amount of value to developers that other platforms don’t necessarily have – it makes us create richer and better games for iOS than we can on Android.”

For developers, the proliferation of Android devices makes iOS the more attractive platform, too. Like running back-end services, smaller studios don’t have the resources to port their games to an-ever increasing number of devices. “From a hardware perspective with the Apple devices, we’re unsure about the rumours of the screen aspect ratio changing,” adds BitMonster’s Perry. “That’s just another hurdle to overcome as the userbase fragments.”

Apple has a welcome dilemma with iPhone 5, or whatever it decides to call its next smartphone. Its industry-spawning success to date has created an ecosystem of companies relying on each and every move it makes. Change the next iPhone and the App Store too much and Apple risks splitting its audience or losing the support of the development community. Conversely, pioneering bold new technology and functionality and it could give rise to yet more exciting new marketplaces. Of all the dilemmas to have, such powerful influence over so many isn’t one worth complaining about.（Source：edge-online）