July 31, 2010

Posts Comments

You are here: Home / Archives for App Store

More Rumors of a “Premium” Section in App Store

March 14, 2009 By Alex Jordan Leave a Comment

In an article by Wired, comes more rumors and speculation of a “Premium” section of the App Store. This new division of the App Store would house the more expensive ($ 20 USD and up) and presumably better iPhone apps, particularly games.

The App Store has seen a downward trend in price in hopes of still selling apps against the $1 and junk apps the store is innundated with. With this new “Premium” section of the store, more serious developers that do this as more than just a hobby will hopefully be lured in.

This is rumored to be announced at this Tuesdays special iPhone event, a rumored special event held just for this, or of course, WWDC.

Filed Under Rumors Tagged With , , ,

Tweetie 1.3 Rejected then Admitted to the App Store

March 10, 2009 By Alex Jordan Leave a Comment

Earlier today the popular iPhone Twitter client, Tweetie was denied release in the App Store. The hiccup ocurred because a profane word showed up in Tweetie’s “Twitter trends” feature. This feature isn’t new to the release, and is featured in other iPhone Twitter clients. However, sanity did prevail and Apple has since allowed the update into the App Store, which should appear shortly. You can read the full story here.

Filed Under All News, iPhone Apps Tagged With , , ,

App Store Hits 6000 iPhone Games

March 10, 2009 By Carlos Yanez Leave a Comment

The App Store has become the greatest place of distribution for mobile content, growing from 10,000 to 27,000+ in just a few months, making it a gold mine when selling applications.

This week, the store has reach more than 6,000 games, representing the 23.1 percent of all the applications, but that’s not all, 25 percent of this games are free, thats 1,500 games that we can play without paying a cent.

Numbers like this are attracting companies like Konami and ID Software to develop major games for the iPhone platform, which is bad for the others game consoles, but good for us, the customers.

[ Source ]

Filed Under iPhone, iPhone Apps Tagged With , ,

Cydia Store Open for Business

March 10, 2009 By James Lundy 1 Comment

Well it looks like the Cydia store has launched its first paid apps which makes it more of a threat to the Apple app store.

Prior to offering paid application only free applications where available and only on a phone that had been jailbroken. For those that do not know jailbreaking your phone provides the user a root level access as well as any programs installed. This allows for third party applications to be installed on the iPhone.

Jailbreaking is still required to have access to the free and now the paid apps. This has become a haven for developers that have been rejected by Apple for various reasons. The paid model with Cydia apparently will use the same 70/30 split as Apple.

Apple is trying to use legal means to defend against Cydia or anyone else that wants to compete with the apps store. Apple has sighted, most notably that the jailbreaking that makes this store possible also make it possible to commit piracy. It remains to be seen if this will be regarded as a solid legal argument or if we will start to see more of this type of business model.

Why is this store a threat to Apple anyway? Well developers who have had there application turned away by apple will not likely go back to Apple with new creative applications if they have another channel to market.

They also have to worry about spending all that time and money developing the apps just to be denied access to the app store.

As more developers feel the sting or rejection from Apple this alternative will become more and more attractive. I do not believe that the existence of this store or the adding of paid application will influence Apple’s decision making process on application selection anytime soon.

Filed Under All News, iPhone, iPhone Apps, iTunes Tagged With , , ,

20% Growth in Mobile Gaming Due to iPhone

March 8, 2009 By Alex Jordan Leave a Comment

The mobile gaming industry has seen a 20% growth in 2008 due to the iPhone App Store, according to an article by Marin Perez of InformationWeek. The mobile gaming industry became a $5.4 Billion market in 2008. It did this in spite of Java based games sails falling, and U.S. and European sales remaining flat. It appears the largest areas of growth came from new markets such as India and China.

I find this amazing considering the App Store has only been available since July and looming recession that has no end in sight. Tell us what you think! Leave a comment!

Filed Under More..., iPhone, iPhone Apps Tagged With , , , ,

Apple Quietly Removes Old and Potentially Bogus App Reviews

February 27, 2009 By Mr. Mayor Leave a Comment

In a move sure to please most developers, Apple has gone ahead and removed older App Store reviews from users that hadn’t even purchased the apps they were reviewing. About time I’d say! I know from personal account from a few developer friends of mine, that these initial reviews could be absolutely killer, tarnishing the reputation and sales of an app… when the review is for all intents and purposes unfounded.

Before September of last year, all apps in the App Store were reviewable by anyone… and you didn’t even need to purchase the app to enter the review. Garbage! The new policies set in place in September required that the app be purchased and installed before a review could be submitted. Thankfully like I mentioned above, Apple has now gone back and removed all of the previous, somewhat ‘bogus’ reviews from the store.

Bottom line here is this was a move that needed to be made. I know there are a lot of developers out there with a smile on their face now. If you want to leave a bad review, that’s still all good… But at least you have to buy, install, and TRY out the darn thing first! That’s the way it should be.

[ Source ]

Filed Under All News, iPhone Apps Tagged With ,

Apple to Unveil Netbooks Next Month?

December 16, 2008 By Killian Bell Leave a Comment

Next month will bring the long-awaited January Macworld Expo. As always, the internet is full of speculation regarding what Apple will and won’t unveil. Among the rumors are new Mac Minis, an iPhone Nano, and Netbooks. The final two I believe are rumors that will never die. At least until (and if) Apple does release them.

Ezra Gottheil of Technology Business Research, is an analyst who believes the netbook rumor is one that will indeed turn to truth come the January Expo. He believes that with the popularity netbooks are receiving at the moment, and with the less than bright economy, Apple would unveil not just one, but two netbook options at the conference. Gottheil believes the netbooks would then be on the market around the middle of next year.

Gottheil believes the reason Apple have put off the idea of a netbook, and the reason it’s taken them so long to enter the market, is because they wanted to avoid providing a stripped-down version of the MacBook, and risk losing sales on the current model. He believes Apple needed to create something completely different, something that would not replace the need of a MacBook.

With this in mind, Gottheil says Apple will release a netbook that, similar to the iPhone, will exist in an Apple-controlled “closed system,” where software is downloaded only from the App Store, restores are made through iTunes, and backups are available through a service like MobileMe. He also claims peripheral and add-on choices would be limited. “By controlling the software that can be loaded and the hardware that can be attached, Apple’s device will be simpler, easier to use and more reliable than a PC, and will excel at the functions most required by users,” says Gottheil.

I’m really quite confident that there is a market out there for an Apple netbook. I know many people who would really benefit from having a netbook, but are determined not to leave the Apple OS. For me, the iPhone does the job on the move, and when I need a bit more, my MacBook is small enough to carry around. However I don’t carry it around all day, every day, and for those that do, a netbook would be incredibly helpful.

I’m not sure I like the idea of the “closed system” environment though.

[ Source ]

Filed Under Rumors Tagged With , , , , , , ,

App of the Day: Monopoly Here & Now: International Edition

December 10, 2008 By Killian Bell Leave a Comment

I think Monopoly is a bit like Marmite — either you love it, or you hate it. Personally, as a child I was a massive fan of Monopoly. It was my favorite board game and whenever we had a power cut or the TV was out of action, we dusted off the Monopoly and played for hours. However I think as I’ve gotten older, Monopoly seems to have lost its appeal. It’s not a game you can play in a short space of time and after a while it can get rather boring. Things might be about to change however, with Monopoly Here & Now: International Edition for the iPhone.

Shake the iPhone to roll the dice and use the touch screen to flick and drag property cards, or navigate your way through to colorful tabs at the bottom of the screen to buy, trade and manage your properties. A pull down menu at the top will recap the last 5 game moves, so if you get interrupted half way through, you can remind yourself of where you left off. You can also save and resume games so if you do manage to get yourself involved in a long game that you don’t have time to complete, you can always continue it later.

Monopoly seems to be really colorful and good looking with some nice 3D graphics. An impressive feature is the multiplayer mode — via WiFi you connect and play with up to 3 other players. You can use the in-game chat to talk to the other players and if one of them leaves the table, they will automatically be replaced by an AI character.

EA games have produced some great games for the iPhone and I think I will definitely give Monopoly a try. Even if it’s just for the nostalgic value. Monopoly is available in the App Store now for $7.99 in the US, or £4.99 in the UK.

Filed Under iPhone Apps Tagged With , , , , , ,

App of the Day: Brothers in Arms — Hour of Heroes

December 9, 2008 By Killian Bell 1 Comment

Gameloft have provided us with some on the best and most impressive applications on the iPhone, and possibly some of the most fun. With titles like Real Football 2009, Guitar Rock Tour, and Asphalt 4: Elite Racing already doing well in the App Store, Gameloft have yet again added another impressive app to the collection.

Brothers in Arms — Hour of Heroes looks fantastic. For what is essentially a mobile phone game, the graphics are clear, crisp and really quite stunning. This game has already been described by the press as; “incredible,” “an achievement,” “it looks and sounds absolutely fantastic.” Gameloft describe it as “the most explosive shooting experience on iPhone!”

Players take on the role of a soldier of the 101st Airborne in an intense WWII battle. Fight your way through 13 missions in 3 campaigns — Normandy, Ardennes and Tunisia. Players also get the opportunity to fight with weapons such as bazookas, sniper rifles, and machine guns, and take the wheel of a Sherman tank.

The only thing that concerns me with this app is the high number of comments from users who have purchased the app and are unable to load it or play it successfully. Many claim the game loads to show the Brothers in Arms logo, then crashes and returns to the iPhone home screen. Others claim they have tried to re-install the app several times and still have no success in loading the game. However those that have successfully loaded and played the game are really pleased, and I’m sure that future updates will solve the crash bugs.

If you’re a fan of shooters, this looks to be one of the best on the iPhone yet. As soon as I get chance I’ll download this game, and provided I can load it on my iPhone, I’ll get a review up. If you’ve already purchased Brothers in Arms, leave us a comment and let us know what your experience has been with the app.

Brothers in Arms — Hour of Heroes is available in the App Store now for $9.99 in the US, or £5.99 in the UK.

Filed Under iPhone Apps Tagged With , , , , , , , , ,

App Store Hits 10,000 Apps

November 29, 2008 By Killian Bell 1 Comment

On June 11th 2008, Apple launched the App Store that would bring applications to both their iPhone and iPod Touch devices, with just 500 applications, 150 of which were free. (*Approximately 100 of which were flashlight apps). In just the first 30 days, Apple reported sales of a whopping $30 million.

The App Store was a huge success and developers everywhere wanted a peice of the cake. Now, months on, the App Store has hit 10,000 applications.

With a whole range of apps from games like Super Monkey Ball, Tetris and Cro-Mag Rally, to helpful utilities like Google’s Mobile App, Apple’s Remote and the eBay app, the App Store is a great place to find that app you need to customise and get the most out of your iPhone.

Why not let us know what your most favorite iPhone app is by leaving us a comment?

* This is just a joke!

[ Source ]

Filed Under More..., iPhone Apps Tagged With , , , , ,
« Older Posts
Newer Posts »