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.

5-inch Android-powered Archos Internet Media Tablet landing in September

Just under a month ago at Archos’ Paris reveal, we were somewhat dismayed that an Android-based device didn’t show up… officially, at least. We were told to expect more information about a Google-powered unit this September, but it looks as if said wait has been hacked considerably. According to The Inquirer, Archos has informed it that a 5-inch internet media tablet loaded with Android will be unveiled on September 15th, a date that certainly jibes with prior information. The handheld will boast Google’s sauce underneath with a layer of Archos applications on top, and while the Windows 7-equipped Archos 9 PCTablet (pictured) is expected in October, this here device should hit shelves a few weeks prior. In related news, the briefing also included word that Archos was working on a few “telephony products,” which is just barely enough to get you simultaneously excited / hot and bothered.

[Via TrustedReviews]

Filed under: Handhelds

5-inch Android-powered Archos Internet Media Tablet landing in September originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 04 Jul 2009 02:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Researchers use Bluetooth to track festival goers, make fun of their ‘hippie dancing’

A team from the University of Ghent in Belgium is lacing the site of this year’s Rock Werchter festival — Brussel’s equivalent of Woodstock ‘97 — with Bluetooth scanners (36 total, they cover a range of 30 meters each). While you’re rocking out to the likes of Bloc Party and Mastodon, the researchers will be tracking your every movement, whether it be to the mosh pit, the beer tent, or the Job Johnny. As you’ve probably assumed, the researchers are primarily looking for ways that retailers can monitor customer flow (read: sell you more crap) although there are certainly going to be results applicable to the world of law enforcement. Of course, this is Bluetooth: you always have the option of disabling it on your phone, and if you don’t they’ll only be able to discern your MAC address. Besides, if you’re not doing anything illegal, you have nothing to fear from the surveillance state — right? And if you are up to no good, well, that’s why they invented the Dazer Lazer.

Filed under: Cellphones

Researchers use Bluetooth to track festival goers, make fun of their ‘hippie dancing’ originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 04 Jul 2009 04:04:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Keepin’ It Real Fake, part CCXIX: Gemsta’s Vaino knock-off

If the Vaino “ultraportable” seemed a little too… well, aspirational, the style mavens at Engadget have dug up a netbook that will certainly correlate with both your awesome sense of style and your self-identification as an OG (that’s “original gemsta”). Dug up by some eagle-eyed KIRF-hunters at 2009’s Shenzhen International Netbook Industry Fair & Forum, this guy sports an 8.9-inch display, an Intel Atom (Z515 / Z520 / Z530), 1GB RAM, up to 64GB storage, 3G, WiFi, SD card slot and more. We don’t have a street date yet for you, but the price should be about 2000 yuan (that’s about $294). And the best part? You won’t have to worry about these guys stealing your thunder. One more pic after the break.

[Via PMP Today]

Continue reading Keepin’ It Real Fake, part CCXIX: Gemsta’s Vaino knock-off

Filed under: Laptops

Keepin’ It Real Fake, part CCXIX: Gemsta’s Vaino knock-off originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 04 Jul 2009 06:07:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Finger Dance Alarm Clock: it’s like DDR, in an alarm clock

If the world required that you complete an expert DDR jam each morning only moments after you awoke, there’s a solid chance the global death toll would far outpace the birth rate. Thankfully, all that’s typically necessary is that you actually listen to whatever device you’ve got ringing. If you’ve noticed lately that said noises just aren’t cutting it, here’s a little puzzler that’s pretty much guaranteed to either get you up or entangle you in infinite frustration. The £9.99 ($16) Finger Dance Alarm Clock sounds at a user-determined time, and once your weary eyes begin to focus, you then have to use your digits to follow a lighted dance pattern in order to shut the cacophony off. It’s half torture, half genius — precisely the way we like it.

[Via OhGizmo]

Filed under: Misc. Gadgets

Finger Dance Alarm Clock: it’s like DDR, in an alarm clock originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 04 Jul 2009 08:04:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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GameStop hits the sauce for the 4th, offers up bizarre Wii bundles

Are you in the market for a “Summer Fun” Wii bundle to get your Independence Day started right? Oh, yeah? Fantastic, ’cause GameStop has just the packages for you. For the low, low price of $249.99, the aforementioned bundle consists of a Nintendo Wii console, a water gun and… wait, what? Amazingly enough, GameStop has seen fit to bundle a $0.25 water gun with a Wii and call it a bundle; heck, it’s even limiting them to two per household. If that’s not strange enough for you, there’s also the Pirate Tattoo bundle and Take a Bath with a Buddy (a rubber ducky, just so we’re clear) bundle. Talk about really taking advantage of that whole “freedom” thing.

Read – Summer Fun bundle
Read – Pirate Tattoo bundle
Read – Take a Bath with a Buddy bundle

[Via Joystiq]

Filed under: Gaming

GameStop hits the sauce for the 4th, offers up bizarre Wii bundles originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 04 Jul 2009 10:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Tecmo Koei CEO to Sony: "please cut the price" of the PS3

Activision’s CEO has already gone public with his complaints about the price of the PS3, and it looks he’s not alone among industry bigwigs with a bone to pick with Sony, with the CEO of the newly formed Tecmo Koei now coming out and echoing his concerns. Speaking with CVG, Tecmo Koei’s Kenji Matsubara says that whenever he speaks about the issue with Sony reps, he asks them to “please cut the price” of the PS3, adding that “from a publisher’s point of view we would welcome a price cut for PS3 and we are waiting, definitely.” He doesn’t quite go so far as pull an Activision and threaten to ditch support for the console if Sony doesn’t drop the price, however, although it seems safe to assume that these complains will only grow louder — at least until Sony actually does cut the price of the PS3, that is.

[Via gamesindustry.biz]

Filed under: Gaming

Tecmo Koei CEO to Sony: “please cut the price” of the PS3 originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 04 Jul 2009 12:29:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Sony Ericsson "Rachael" Android XPERIA handset unveiled?

Hello, beautiful. Danish phone site Mobil has uncovered “internal documents” on what appears to be Sony Ericsson’s upcoming Android-based handset, an XPERIA number codenamed Rachael. Under the hood is a 1GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon processor, HSPA and an 8 megapixel camera. It’s unclear how big the touchscreen is, and other details are scarce — there is a 3.5mm headphone jack, so that’s nice, but unless we’re severely misguided, there doesn’t seem to be a slide-out keyboard tucked away inside this thin chassis.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

Filed under: Cellphones, Handhelds

Sony Ericsson “Rachael” Android XPERIA handset unveiled? originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 04 Jul 2009 12:41:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Rumored Sony Ericsson "Kiki" handset isn’t a boring one

That supposedly upcoming Android XPERIA that Mobil dug up might have our minds, but it’s this leaked handset (which, to be fair, looks fairly sketchily rendered), the Sony Ericsson Kiki, that has won our hearts. The screen is made of glass, with an image seemingly rear-projected onto it (teleprompter style), while the keys are, um, scarce. Mobil was able to offer few hints as to how this works or what all it does, and it seems like it falls far short of the functionality of a feature phone, but we’re sure we want one whatever it is.

Filed under: Cellphones

Rumored Sony Ericsson “Kiki” handset isn’t a boring one originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 04 Jul 2009 14:02:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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