Apps

Google Play grows, App Store still cash king

Ed Sutherland ∙ December 20, 2012

What's better: to be taller or wealthier? Carry that debate to Apple versus Google and you have the latest on the battle between Apple's App Store and Google Play. While Google's revenue is growing, Apple's application store for iOS devices simply overwhelms the Mountain View, California firm in terms of cash, even if there's another, much darker side to app economy.

During the last four months, Google Play's combined daily revenue grew at 43 percent compared to the App Store's 21 percent, according to research firm Distimo. However, over the entire year, App Store revenue rose by 51 percent.

But wait, there's more. In November, the App Store rang up $15 million in average daily revenue. That compares to $3.5 million for Google Play during the same time...

Redbox Instant, Verizon’s Netflix-killer, launches as private beta on iOS and Android

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated March 19, 2019

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w4X2FUQLuG8

Redbox Instant is a joint venture between Verizon Communications and Redbox, a subsidiary of Coinstar that specializes in the rental of DVDs, Blu-ray discs and video games via automated retail kiosks. Today, they started gradually rolling out their service, accompanied by the iOS and Android client which lets you stream unlimited movies from their catalogue for eight bucks per month.

There's a free trial available, too, and you also get four DVD credits to boot from. The partners do not specify how many Hollywood movies are available for streaming. What we do know is that titles from Warner Bros and EPIX are included and that Redbox Instant won't stream television shows, at least not initially. Something tells me that Netflix should be worried. Isn't competition good for all?

Flickr for iPhone gains better sharing features

Christian Zibreg ∙ December 19, 2012

Yahoo really seized an opportunity by giving its Flickr iOS app a much-needed love in last week's major version 2.0 update, didn't it? I mean, the app couldn't have arrived at a better time just as Facebook has suffered a major PR blow due to the public outcry concerning Instagram's new terms of service. Seven days later, Yahoo brings us a new Flickr update. Based on customer feedback, Flickr version 2.01.772 is now available for download, sporting several interesting new features missing in the previous release...

Instagram responds: ‘your photos are your photos’

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated July 24, 2016

There has been a whole lot of hoopla surrounding Instagram's newly updated terms of services, with commenters warning the new rules might give the popular Facebook-owned photography service the right to share your data with third-parties and - worse - sell your Instagram photos without compensating you. Does Facebook really intend to turn Instagram into a stock photo service that doesn’t pay a dime to photographers?

Cowed by privacy outrage, hours after releasing the new terms the company's co-founder responded by shedding more light on the matter. In a blog post, he makes it clear that Instagram does not intend to sell its users photos while sharing interesting tidbits concerning Instagram's advertising strategy...

You can now download App Store apps without leaving Facebook

Christian Zibreg ∙ December 18, 2012

Remember the App Center, a cross-platform application store Facebook launched ahead of its rebuilt iOS app? Hosted and curated by Facebook, the App Center is available as a link in the main menu of their iOS client, listing Facebook-enhanced apps and games that can be found on the App Store. Previously, tapping an entry yanked you out of the Facebook app and into the App Store.

That's no longer the case as it is now possible to install App Store software from a pop-up inside the Facebook app, which is an iOS 6 SDK feature available to all third-party developers who wish to implement it...

Microsoft’s post-PC trouble: capturing the profits of bygone days

Ed Sutherland ∙ December 18, 2012

Before PC demand dwindled, software giant Microsoft was happy with licensing its Windows software to computer makers. Now that we are taking the first steps into the post-PC era, the Redmond firm still wants its profit. But how do you charge a $50 per-tablet royalty fee when the device itself costs $199?

Enter the $499 Surface, says one independent analyst. While Google's Nexus 7 and Amazon's Kindle Fire both sell for $199, the Surface carries the much higher price tag because Microsoft stubbornly refuses to give up the 30 percent profit margin it's accustomed to receiving for Windows and Office software licenses...

Rovio launches Christmas song, adds 24 levels and new power-ups to Angry Birds Rio

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated January 29, 2016

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qwd99PfFwpw

Curl up with some hot cocoa and a holiday song from Finnish mobile games developer Rovio. The team has just updated Angry Birds Rio, its marketing tie-in with the 20th Century Fox animated film Rio. The fresh content pack brings 24 new levels and power ups, including a "special delivery" TNT Drop, Samba Burst, Sling Scope laser targeting and Super Seeds to supersize your birds.

There are twenty free power ups in total to boot from, with an additional power up added each day. Plus, you can collect stars to unlock eighteen special Star levels and earn feathers to unlock six Mighty Eagle levels. Rovio also created an Angry Birds-themed holiday song titled “Fly Me Home Tonight” in honor of the festive season...

Viber gains emoticons, locations, stickers and group conversations with up to 40 participants

Christian Zibreg ∙ December 18, 2012

Viber, the popular IM and VoIP software for smartphones, joins a rash of holiday updates by releasing a new version of its iPhone and iPod touch client. Viber version 3.2, now available free from the App Store, makes text messaging more fun by giving you the ability to share stickers with friends and enrich your communication with emoticons. Also new is the enhanced group messaging feature supporting group conversations with up to 40 participants. You can also share locations in messages and the app is now optimized for the iPhone 5's taller display and plays nicely with iOS 6...

Introducing Cubasis: when GarageBand is not enough

Christian Zibreg ∙ December 17, 2012

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C-ek0PByfVg

Musicians need no introduction to Steinberg, a Hamburg, Germany-based maker of musical software and equipment. Their Cubase program and other software suites support pro music recording, arranging and editing and are widely used in digital audio workstations and VSTi software synthesizers around the world.

When a company this significant releases a multitouch sequencer for Apple's iPad that lets you record, edit and mix on the go, this becomes news in and of itself. "Cubasis places touch-intuitive production tools in your hands, opening up a new world of possibilities for your creativity", Steinberg writes...

2012: a year in App Store

Christian Zibreg ∙ December 17, 2012

With 750,000+ apps in the App Store and iTunes approaching half a billion accounts with credit cards enabled for one-click shopping, little wonder iOS, by and large, has remained the platform of choice for mobile developers, in spite of Android's lead in sales volume. While only a small number devs earn millions writing apps, the race to the bottom is taking its toll as most bedtime devs opt to keep their day jobs.

Appsfire, a website devoted to App Store discovery, has analyzed key app trends in 2012, creating an illustrative infographic that highlights today's App Store app ecosystem...

Camera+ finally gains full-res sharing

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated October 10, 2018

Camera+'s inability to share snaps at full resolution on Facebook has been ticking me off for some time. I prefer to share my images in full-res whenever possible, but the otherwise perfect Camera+ app stubbornly kept insisting on reducing my uploads to a paltry 1,024 pixels horizontally.

Thankfully, the annoying limitation is gone now. What's more, developer tap tap tap has also bumped up the quality a bit for Twitter, Message and web link sharing, meaning you’ll get higher quality shares even if you don’t change a thing.

The iPad version now does a better job handling atypical image formats and the team is already talking about the upcoming version 3.8, "which is right around the corner".

In addition to "a few other really cool things", this will be the update you've been waiting for, one that will finally converge the features in both iPhone and iPad version of the program...