Hi,
I had an idea in my head for some time now... and I'm looking for developers who would like to start selling apps for maemo.

Seeing that the proper OVI store is not coming anytime soon, I'd like to open an app shop for Nxxx phones which will provide automatic IMEI-based copy protection (optional, you'd be still able to release your original package). The idea which I have in mind would not require recompilation on my side, so you could provide the ready binary package, which the shop itself would patch before release. No stupid online checks or DRMs which will take over the whole mobile - only a simple check which will make the copying annoying/hard for a typical user. However, it will not be possible to disable it with a simple change of a jmp type.
I would like the shop to be revenue-sharing only (requiring only a silly entrance fee <5£ to verify that the account exists / check name, etc.)

These are the things you'd expect and which people are waiting for of course. Now the not-so-good things which you should be aware of from the beginning:
I'm not going to invest a lot of money in it. That means, it will start with a significant part of the income going to the payment system. I'm not going to pay for the CC gateway and processing before they can be covered from the revenue. I thought about paypal, since everyone can have / already has an account there.
I'm not going to start working on it before the next month and it's definitely not going to be ready in less than a month.

I'm looking mainly for N900 developers, but if you'd be ready to do a lot of testing (or live in UK to meet face to face) it could be possible for other Nxxx too.

The anti-copy protection would work only on compiled apps. No protection for python, mono, java, etc. Anything like c, c++, vala, go, etc. should be ok.

Is there anyone here who would be interested to work with me on this? (mainly people who will create the first 5 or so paid apps, I can handle the shop myself)

Let me know

Edit: to make it clear - I am able to do the shop. The developers I'm looking for are the ones who create actual applications.

Hi,

Personnaly i ve setup my own paiement system (using paypal) for my game VectorMine. It s shareware paiement scheme : Identification number - register on http://khertan.net - get your registration code.

But as non free package web interface is full of bugs, noone care of non-free app qa testing ... it s not available in extras. So few visibility, few download ... only 3 registratons. ...

I think also n900 users have the habit of find open sourced or free applications for their device. And also i think than most of them will not trust 3rd party repositories and paiement store.

I do not think there is enough N900 sold for a return on investment over time for the establishment of such a payment platform or development of paid application.

Thanks for the feedback!

I'm also worried about the amount of people willing to buy stuff right now... but on the other hand, I see a lot of people complaining that there is no stuff to buy (which is solvable ). But I think it's the effect of mass - you've got one game available, so people either have to look for it, or know you. If people know that some shop has many apps available and is more alive than Ovi, things might work differently. That's why I'm looking for potential apps, before I even start the shop - noone likes empty shelves.

I thought about using "additional packages repository" method and the web installation method. Couldn't really decide what's better (with repos you get updates, with web install you can install it straight after payment). apt may even pickup the fact that a .deb was installed and check for updates in repos... not sure about that one. In the worst case (or maybe it's the best case?) I could add a dedicated application into extras which will allow browsing my alternative shop and buying / installing stuff straight from there.

So, how is your offer different from what established payment processing companies, like eSellerate, Kagi, or ClickGamer offer? These companies exist for years, they have earned credibility, got the infrastructure working, etc. How are you planning to compete with them for developers?

Imho I have seen some developers providing their apps/games on their website/repository. I think it´s better than nothing but these indy/small developers should unify and make app store that has bit more than couple of cool apps. It needs critical mass of stuff and if there is couple of hits then other apps/games benefit from those because people are likely to install those also when cost is right and it´s easy enough. Why wait for Nokia?

fms, as far as I know, none of them provides a Maemo-compatible app shop. Unless I missed something? The way I see it, the only shop providing maemo apps is Ovi.

The problem I'd like to solve is the strange situation with Ovi store. As far as I know noone wants to touch it now and it's not providing any paid applications (there are some non free items, but I always got "problems with payment service" after clicking buy). I'd like to go for very low price of entry.

I'm not trying to go for Ovi any time soon, simply because of the current problems and the fact that you have to pay £50 which I would probably never see again if noone can buy the application.

slender, that is exactly what I'd like to achieve. But I need at least one or two of those developers to stand up and say they've got / will have something ready. If noone signs up for the project right now, I don't believe anyone will care in 2 months. + I need someone to work with, so I'm sure the shop provides what is needed and not what I'd like to see.

If I were a developer I would wait for PR 1.2 to see if Nokia solve the OVI Store payment issue... nonetheless a good initiative from OP.

As for Khertan's comment, I have to disagree (thank you though for creating VectorMine). I have tried it earlier (not sure if it's a shareware from the get-go).... but found the game not something I would pay for personally. However, I did pay for Angry Bird level pack (when it was available on OVI Store) and I was considering buying Sygic only to find that on N900 it is not that practical because my N900 got very hot during usage. What I want to emphasize is that there is definitely market for N900.. but as you suggested, the user base is most likely different from the iPhone crowd where they are seemly willing to pay for anything remotely interesting.

VectorMine is a bit special game, it s old shoot them up, so when i did it i was sure that this wasn't for everyone ... i didn't expect a real return for it. It was more a test to see if i continue trying making game or paid app for the plateform. But what i want to say it s just that if there is a market for n900 ... it s require a good visibility. All user didn't come on maemo.org ... all users didn't use the extras-testing, extras-devel ... and contrary to ovi store where a link is available in the application, your future store will be available only from people who browse your web interface store, or maybe install your application store, or add your repository in their device.

I'd wait before implementing something until MeeGo is released (for n900).

If it usable then great there is potential but otherwise if it is the same state as maemo then I'm afraid making money from Nokia-based devices will be very difficult.

MeeGo from other companies (and thier devices) may be more profitable.

Hey,

Thats quite a nice idea.

I'm developing 2 games in C++ and Qt and it would be cool, if I would earn some euros for the work.

The problem is, that there have to be enough developers and apps until the project makes sense to start.


But I have to say, I'm not really able to help you by setting up your store, because my knowledge in html, php, css and whatever-"internet"-language is vero low to zero.

It would be nice, if all the developers, which want to distribute their apps over this store, wThats quite a nice idea.

I'm developing 2 games in C++ and Qt and it would be cool, if I would earn some euros for the work.

The problem is, that there have to be enough developers and apps until the project makes sense to start.


But I have to say, I'm not really able to help you by setting up your store, because my knowledge in html, php, css and whatever-"internet"-language is vero low to zero.

It would be nice, if all the developers, which want to distribute their apps over this store, will inform us with a little post in this thread



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