The App Store, Apple’s Golden Ticket

With more than 2 billion downloads, the App Store is likely to be Apple’s most unique creation yet, according to Joseph Menn from Financial Times.

The iPhone’s performance has proved to stand tall in an economy where even the technology industry struggles.  These App’s have managed to create their own industry along the same lines as computers, music and phones. In turn, the developers for these iPhone Apps have found their golden ticket to success from servicing budding entrepreneurs with unique ideas, all the way up to CEO’s of a established corporations.

The iPhone sales continue to climb as users now average 10 new downloads per month. With over 100,000 apps now available in the App Store and over 50M in iPhone and iPod Touch sales, businesses feel enticed to ride this wave and bring their app idea’s to life.

This influx in the App Store has by far exceeded the predicted forecast by Apple investment firms Such as Kleiner, Perkins Caufield & Byers.  “We had no idea there would be 2 billion downloads by October,” according to Matt Murphy, manager of the then $100m fund. “Most people within Apple, if you had told them it would be a fifth of that by now, they would have been pretty happy.”

Apple could have never anticipated what was going to come from tapping on a small square icon on the iPhone Home Screen.  Not only an array of your programs of interest but a successful communication tool between iPhone App developers and users. The developer can set the price and Apple will manage the sale for a 30% cut.

Many of Apple’s competitors, including Blackberry and Android, are offering an app store now although they all lack in the number of apps available for download.  These competitors also lack in functionality which is why the iPhone still remains very popular in the mobile industry.

NYC Free Parking iPhone App Competes for Award

The free iPhone application NYC Broken Meters, uses city data to find broken meters in Manhattan. Under the city law, motorists are able to park freely at a broken meter for up to one hour.

According to The New York Post, the broken meter data is obtained by Scout 311, a company responsible for finding traffic related equipment needing repairs in New York City. Scout311 has developed this iPhone app to utilize the phone’s GPS, which results in under 1,000 meters being broken.

As of Monday, NYC residents are voting for the best app in Manhattan. The NYC Broken Meters Application is just one of the many Manhattan based apps that have entered into this competition which features a grand prize of $5,000, according to the New York Post. 

This competition is intended to shed some light on iPhone Apps that help make Manhattan more attainable. Quit a few of the finalists are similar to NYC Broken Meters in the sense that they use city data to inform the people in the city about current events. IPhone Apps such as Hey Walkie, a dog park locator and Trees Near you, a map of a all trees in the city; are several among the many competing Apps.

The winner for the best New York City App will be recognized at an awards ceremony after the competition ends on January 7^th.

iTunes Rolls Out New App Store Layout

Apple always likes to improve and iterate iTunes. Last week the App Store rolled out a new layout. Now the background is white, there are several scrollable areas, and a more usable review section.

The new design now shows a few screenshots of each app. iPhone App Developer info and support websites are at the top of the page and are much easier to find now. 

Some developers appeared unhappy with these changes, but sometimes change is good and just takes a bit of getting used to.  However, for most users of the App Store, these simple usability modifications will be welcomed.

Slide to Unlock undies…

In totally unrelated iPhone news… iPanties have been showing up recently online. A carefully placed iPhone ‘Slide to Unlock’ graphic has made these undies a big hit with nerds around the world.

Get yours from Weebly for $12

Related iPhone News

• July 3, 2009 — Rolando 2 – out now
• July 2, 2009 — Flight Control goes 2 player over Bluetooth
• June 30, 2009 — First Look: Doom for iPhone
• June 27, 2009 — Apple’s share of the US Smartphone market grows… again.
• June 27, 2009 — Apple are aware of battery issues with 3.0

Is the iPhone 3GS REALLY that much faster?

We tested the load times of the iPhone 3GS vs the iPhone 3G. Apple have been banging on about how much faster the iPhone 3GS is, but is it really worth the $1000 for the 7.2mbps 3G connection. The video certainly reveals that the iPhone 3GS now boasts download speeds that are close to broadband speeds. (Ironically, iPhone User Guide took longer to load on the Mac than the iPhone, but we’re blaming that on the lame internet in our office!)

iPhone 3GS vs iPhone 3G – Safari download speeds

iPhone 3G – 26 seconds

iPhone 3GS – 10 seconds

So in our test (we ran this test at least 3 times to make sure it wasn’t some weird anomaly with the mobile networks) we found the iPhone 3GS to be 2.5x faster when it comes downloading over the cellular network.

*Obviously we were running this test on two different networks, but in all our previous tests we’ve found both networks to run at almost exactly the same speed.

Related iPhone News

• July 3, 2009 — Rolando 2 – out now
• July 2, 2009 — Flight Control goes 2 player over Bluetooth
• July 2, 2009 — Slide to Unlock undies…
• July 2, 2009 — Facebook 3.0 coming to iPhone, still no push
• July 1, 2009 — First Look: Sally’s Spa

Flight Control goes 2 player over Bluetooth

One of the most addictive games on iPhone is now two player, simply both have the app on your iPhone and you can play head to head and help land all those aircrafts in a ridiculously small airport. Just when you thought this game couldn’t get any more fun, it does.

Upgrade now to version 1.3 in the iTunes App Store

Related iPhone News

• July 3, 2009 — Rolando 2 – out now
• June 30, 2009 — First Look: Doom for iPhone
• June 26, 2009 — iPhone 3.0 – is your battery going down quicker?
• June 24, 2009 — Beejive removed from the App Store
• June 22, 2009 — How to manually set up Internet Tethering on your iPhone

How to: Save your favourite websites to the Springboard

Are you fed up with typing in your favourite websites in to the small Safari bar on your iPhone? There is a simple way to gain easy access to your favourite websites quickly, and here’s how.

1. Navigate to your favourite website
2. Touch the “+” icon at the bottom of the screen
3. Touch “Add to Home Screen”
4. Enter a name for your shortcut
5. Voilá… you now have created your own icon that will open Safari and your favourite site with just one click.

Related iPhone News

• July 3, 2009 — Rolando 2 – out now
• July 2, 2009 — Flight Control goes 2 player over Bluetooth
• June 30, 2009 — First Look: Doom for iPhone
• June 30, 2009 — Where can I find the iPhone 3.0 ipsw?
• June 26, 2009 — iPhone 3.0 – is your battery going down quicker?

Rolando 2 – out now

Rolando 2 improves upon the existing Rolando formula by adding a “2.5D” display system which provides a 3D-looking environment to travel across. Beyond just this aesthetic change, the game also introduces a number of new characters, skills, weapons/vehicles and puzzles throughout the game’s 46 levels. The game shares the same basic controls as the original game with tilt movements to roll the Rolandos and swipe controls to jump.

Related iPhone News

• July 2, 2009 — Flight Control goes 2 player over Bluetooth
• June 30, 2009 — First Look: Doom for iPhone
• June 26, 2009 — iPhone 3.0 – is your battery going down quicker?
• June 24, 2009 — Beejive removed from the App Store
• June 22, 2009 — How to manually set up Internet Tethering on your iPhone

iPhone Karaoke anyone?

Apple has published a very interesting patent application in which they explore how to provide a Karaoke experience on the iPhone. Not only would users be able to sing along with their favorite songs, but Apple wants to give real-time feedback to singers letting them know how they are doing.

Related iPhone News

• July 3, 2009 — Full list of Voice Control commands for iPhone 3GS
• July 3, 2009 — AT&T reveal just how valueable iPhone is to them
• July 3, 2009 — iPhone SMS Vunerability Found
• July 3, 2009 — iPhone 4.0 to include scheduled and event based modes
• July 3, 2009 — Rolando 2 – out now

iPhone 4.0 to include scheduled and event based modes

Imagine being able to have your iPhone flip from Ringer to Silent the minute the GPS notices you are at work. Well along with a slew of other patents today, Apple have patented this sort of technology. This is particularly handy, if the iPhone knows you are running, and so diverts all your calls to voicemail, until you slow to a walking pace. We’re not sure when this will surface but it will be very nice to have your iPhone react to your surroundings like that. Stay tuned.

Related iPhone News

• July 3, 2009 — Full list of Voice Control commands for iPhone 3GS
• July 3, 2009 — iPhone SMS Vunerability Found
• July 3, 2009 — Rolando 2 – out now
• July 2, 2009 — Flight Control goes 2 player over Bluetooth
• July 2, 2009 — New Features Found in iPhone OS 3.1

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