This is some interesting data shared by Asymco that shows we are downloading apps much faster than we download music on iTunes. As a point of comparison, it took the App Store 2.2 years to be where iTunes was after 5 years. In other words, the App Store is hugely gigantic.
More interesting is that Asymco foresees App Store downloads will pass iTunes downloads by the end of the year. So why is the App Store so popular?
The iPhone App Store has had over 300,000 entries accepted in its short lived history while almost 250,000 are currently available for download. I often find myself asking how I can find an obscure application or when a popular entry might go on sale. Enter AppShopper.
Gizmodo recently reported that the popular website now has a native app for the iPhone that will track when apps go on sale and announce the arrival of recently added entries. Certainly this beats Apple's featured apps tab and the best part about it is, you guessed it, it's free...
Running is a lot of work. That's why the previous version of the Nike+ iPod was a bit of a hassle since you had to have special equipment just to participate in the experience. Apparently Nike agreed.
Now in the App Store is an app called Nike+ GPS which is a stand alone version of the aforementioned application. The $2 selection which you can download here utilizes the iPhone's accelerometer and GPS capabilities (must be running iOS 3.1 or higher), which ditches the need for any additional adapters that it once required...
I'm not big on games. I don't have the time or the patience to play, but from time to time I find a game that gets me stuck to my iPhone and makes my carpal tunnel even worse. My latest addiction: R Type, by DotEmu SAS in partnership with EA Games.
The reason why I like this game so much is because I used to play it on my Comodore 64 when I was a kid. No need to tell you that lots of memories resurfaced as I went through the various levels...
I wondered when a contest would emerge that featured the iPhone 4, which I figured would be focused on films. Turns out I was wrong in sense that the Australian Commercial and Media Photographers held a competition for photos taken on the new phone.
TUAW reports that the only other rule was that the pictures must be took using Hipstamatic, an App Store entry that offers old styles of lenses and film emulators. Any other manipulation and they'd bounce you down to New Zealand to box a kangaroo...
When the iPhone was introduced back in 2007 Steve Jobs made it known that he thought the phone's best feature was the ability to browse the internet in its entirety. To his credit it was the first device to even come close. As Jobs' idol, Bob Dylan sang, "The times they are a changing".
The Bango Blog offers some insight regarding their newest web browsing statistics that show a decline in web traffic as it relates to content viewed from the iPhone. Should the decline be attributed to the influx in platforms that offer the same style of browsing? Some would argue that systems like Android offer a more comprehensive experience strictly due to their support of Flash...
Anyone who has an iPhone knows that trying to watch Flash videos is just not possible. There are a few hacks and cracks that bring synthetic Flash knockoffs to your device, though the jury is still out on how well they actually work. That could be changing real soon.
Skyfire has submitted an application to the App Store that would perform a nifty little conversion and bring real Flash to your iPhone. We know that natively, the software would never get a chance to grace the presence of Apple territory, so the developers created a way to make the content compliant...
The way it works is when you click on a video that is Flash based, the app takes it from its original format and converts it to HTML 5. Such a simple sounding but brilliant idea by whoever is behind the development. HTML 5 of course is the format that Apple has regarded to be the future that eliminates Adobe's software.
The video shows off the seemingly stable app in action by loading an episode of The Daily Show. I can see Apple approving this and revering it to be the sort of example they speak of when they claim HTML 5 is the future. If only the app could make Jon Stewart consistently funny.
Will Apple approve this application or deem it too controversial? I wonder if the guy who decides will have to make a call to Steve himself. Let us know what you think of the app's presentation and concept in the comments below.
I must say that I have enjoyed the anticipation that has come with waiting to see which category the App Store will add under their featured apps section. This week I was sorely disappointed by the organization of location-based apps entitled "On The Grid".
It should come as no surprise that Facebook tops the list after adding their take on the service via Places. Foursquare and Gowalla are next on the list that only sports a dozen entries...
TUAW recently unveiled a product design by Griffin that could change the way you think about gaming on the iPhone or iPad. The FCC has released the exciting filing that would allow up to 4 people to simultaneously play in an individual setting. Sounds cool, right?
Griffin will send 4 games along with the PartyDock that will will include party, family and casual styles of entertainment. The games will be available in the App Store and would be designed to be ran specifically with aforementioned platform. Head over to the product site for additional info including development.
If you check out the Apple iPhone Dev Center you will see an encouraging vow to developers stating that they can expect to see quicker, more consistent payments in the future.
As it reads on the website there is a new payment and financial report module in place. Here is an excerpt from the site:
One of my pet peeves is the current state of how apps in the App Store get their review grades. As you probably know the system as it stands is simply set up to allow anyone to write about and rank an application as many times as they like. Nothing had been done to prevent fraud in the sense of app developers writing multiple high ball reviews, until now, kind of.
The Federal Trade Commissions office has satisfied a complaint against a California based PR group called Reverb Communications. It turns out that the company who have worked with several developers were having their employees posing as actual users, and having them write up glorified reviews of different applications...
Thank Buddha it's Friday! With the weekend approaching it's also that special day of the week where yours truly vents about a recent story that rubbed me the wrong way. This weeks session is dedicated to a story we reported on regarding Apple's new patent that would enable them to remotely wipe your iPhone. You may be rolling your eyes but hear me out because I think a lot of you will be even more irritated by the spin I apply here...