Tesco iPhone: Exclusive first picture!

It was announced this week that Tesco Mobile is to sell the iPhone. Reactions ranged from amused disdain to utter joy: is this the end of the MessiahPhone's premium cachet, or is it just the start of a price revolution that will put the world's favourite mobile Web-browsing device in the hands of the masses? The iPhone 3G and 3GS could be available from Tesco as soon as Christmas, and we've got an exclusive first picture of the form the phone, er, could take.

Every little helps, right? Fingers crossed that Tesco Mobile will be the company to eviscerate the cosy circle of inflated pricing offered by O2 and Orange. If you've held out this long without succumbing to the JesusPhone, will the Tesco deal encourage you to finally go Apple? And if you've already got an iPhone in your pocket, will you be switching to Tesco's Finest?

One thing's for sure, even after three years, the iPhone remains the hero product of hero products when it comes to creating heated debate, fevered speculation -- and decidedly dodgy Photoshop mock-ups.

{Via Crave}

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Apple’s revolutionary iPhone shakes up Korea

"The iPhone's arrival in South Korea is generating considerable buzz among consumers and industry watchers amid expectations it will shake up a market dominated by world-beating domestic manufacturers," Kelly Olsen reports for The Associated Press. "'I can't wait to get my iPhone,' said Na Hae-bin, a 30-year-old market researcher at an Internet company, who reserved one as soon as he could. 'My heart was beating fast.'"

"Judging from pre-orders that started Nov. 22, Apple Inc.'s hit communications device appears set to make serious inroads in South Korea -- home to some of the world's most sophisticated mobile phone users," Olsen reports. "So far, KT Corp., the local mobile carrier which has contracted with Apple to sell service plans for the phone, says it has received 53,000 advance orders ahead of Saturday's official launch.

Olsen reports, "Such numbers have impressed analysts. 'This is phenomenal,' said Hwang Sung-jin, who monitors the industry at Prudential Investment & Securities Co. in Seoul... But he added it is difficult to assess how much of an inroad the iPhone will make in the growing domestic smartphone market, which he said totaled about 400,000 users at the end of the third quarter."

{Via MacDailyNews}

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Virus Attacks Apple iPhone via Internet

BOSTON: Hackers have built a virus that attacks Apple Inc’s iPhone by secretly taking control of the devices via their internet connections, security experts said.

The virus has been detected in the Netherlands and can only attack iPhones whose users have disabled some pre-installed security features, according to analysts monitoring the progress of the virus.

The hackers are trying to use the virus to obtain passwords to banking sites, according to Graham Cluley, a researcher with anti-virus software maker Sophos. When an iPhone user tries to access a bank website, the Duh Worm directs the browser to a look-a-like site controlled by the hackers, Cluley said.

A spokeswoman for ING Group said the Dutch banking giant discovered a criminal network that attempted to steal banking credentials via hacked iPhones. Dutch clients of ING have been targeted, but there was no indication that clients outside the Netherlands have to worry, she said. ING has not received any reports from clients that their credentials have been lost, but the bank was monitoring client accounts for suspicious transactions, she said.

{Read more at http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/Virus-attacks-Apple-iPhone-via-internet/articleshow/5277258.cms}

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World's Most Expensive iPhone

GoldStriker International, the manufacturer of highly exclusive handsets, has managed to create the most expensive phone ever earlier this week. The modified iPhone 3G that they have managed to create will set you back by a cool 1.92 million pounds!

The decked up iPhone 3GS comes studded with almost 271 grams of 22 carat gold and as many as 136 diamonds worth a cool 68 carat. The diamonds are on the front bezel. Even the front home button features a diamond (a very rare one at that) weighing 7.1 carat. The phone was painstakingly built over a period of over ten months by Stuart Hughes.

If you are one of the rare specimens who can actually afford to "order" one custom made for you, let us remind you that it will come in a chest made of granite and decked with Gold with a leather interior lining. This is one box you won't be sending for recycling! Head to the GoldStriker website if you want to know more or even if you wish to order one!

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What If Steve Jobs Hadn’t Returned To Apple In 1997?

TechCrunch carried this inspiring article on Thanksgiving, titled “What If Steve Jobs Hadn’t Returned To Apple In 1997?“. Steve Jobs (wiki) was thrown out of Apple, the company he co-founded in 1976 in 1985 by the then Apple CEO John Sculley. And in 1997, Steve sold his company NeXT back to Apple and officially joined the company.

What if Steve wouldnt have joined Apple? TechCrunch has few of those answers:

• In 1997 Apple had just completed a fiscal year where they lost about $1 billion on $7 billion in revenue. The company was worth about $4 billion. Today Apple is worth a staggering $184 billion on revenues of $36.5 billion and net income of $8 billion.
• In 1997 Apple had a snoozy product line that included the ill-fated Newton, the Performa, the Power Macintosh, the PowerBook a bunch of printers and a few servers. Today Apple has the sexiest products in the business: iMacs, Macbooks, iPhones, iPods and more. Even the Mac Mini has a place in my home, powering my television.

Forget all that, what would our world look like without Steve Jobs?

We’d likely still be in mobile phone hell. Chances are we still wouldn’t have a decent browsing experience on the phone, and we certainly wouldn’t be enjoying third party apps like Pandora or Skype on whatever clunker the carriers handed us. Even if you use an Android, Palm Pre or newer Blackberry today, you must thank Apple for pushing open the doors to mobile freedom. Think back to the phone you had in 2006, and then tell me you don’t love Apple for the iPhone alone (yes, I’ve moved on, but the iPhone was the genesis).

{Via TechCrunch}

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iPhone Rejections Are Speaking Out

The question of who is getting rejected and what makes one app better than another is something that is being asked quite frequently lately, and we now finally have a way to find out who is getting rejected and can see for ourselves what their apps are all about. While this will not change the fact that they are rejected, it will let the public decide if Apple is being fair or not. The site, AppRejections.com, is the project of developer Adam Martin. He plans on making a list of apps that have been rejected for what most would consider “unusual and unfair.” Since nobody really knows how the process works, it may give a little insight to other developers in their quest to get their apps approved.

Of course, this is not the real motivation behind the site. That is more than likely for developers to have a site where they can talk about the evil empire that is Apple and how unjust and how unfairly they are being treated. Oddly enough, when digging a little deeper into the actual rejections, many of them fall into two categories: offensive or trademark violations.

Now, let us preface this with the fact that this is not a defense of Apple, it just seems as though many developers are not following some basic guidelines that could avoid all of this. Apple has made it very clear that they will not allow apps that are offensive in any way or that use specific name brands or logos in their product. For instance, they cannot use the word Google or a Mac icon and yet developers still do and are then upset when the app gets rejected.

On the flip side, there are still plenty of apps that have been rejected that look as though they are perfectly harmless on the outside and do not show any obvious violations. It really is tough to call as to why some of these apps are not allowed in other than the fact that Apple does not want to just allow every app to be published. At times, it may just be a case of wrong place and wrong time.

{Via iPhonesTalk}

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NPD: 48% of retail desktop revenue in US from Macs

While NPD's Stephen Baker points to a confluence of events, including Apple's refresh of its iMac line during the month and a decline of PC sales ahead of the launch of Windows 7, as being responsible for Apple's performance during the month, he also notes that the trend is not likely to continue. Data from previous months, however, shows that Apple had been performing quite well even back in April of this year, when it captured 45% of the desktop retail revenue.


NPD notes that Apple's strong revenue performance is a direct result of its average selling prices, which are nearly three times that of Windows PCs. That difference has enabled Apple to claim high revenues despite significantly lower unit market share than top Windows-based PC vendors.

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iPhone owners more likely to pay for digital content

iPhone owners are much more likely to pay for digital content than the average Internet user, according to a recent survey conducted by the media firm Olswang. Although previous surveys have concluded that iPhone owners have an apatite for apps and media accessible directly from the handset interface, the latest research suggests the same group is also spending more money on content purchased on other Internet-connected devices such as a desktop and notebook computers.

Of respondents that own one of Apple's handsets, 73 percent would pay for online access to a film that had just hit the cinemas, while 67 percent would pay for a film that is still a few months away from DVD availability, according to a summary of the data posted on 9 to 5 Mac. Only 58 percent of the general population would pay for online viewing of current cinema films, with 52 percent claiming they would buy a digital copy of a movie before the DVD was released.

For TV shows, 40 percent of iPhone owners would pay for an online subscription compared to 30 percent of the general group. Similar numbers are also observed for purchases of e-books.

"It seems to be that people get used to paying for content, such as an application on the iPhone because it is so easy and the idea of paying for something suddenly becomes much less of a barrier than it is online where people are used to getting so much for free," said Olswang partner John Enser.

A recent report suggests a consortium of magazine publishers is collaborating on a digital portal described by one source as 'iTunes for magazines.' Other publishers are reportedly working on strategies to bring their content to an Apple tablet, despite the lack of official confirmation or specs on such a device.

[via Wired]

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Lucky Me Plus awaiting approval…

Emantras Inc, has submitted Lucky Me Plus, a much improved sequel to the popular lifestyle app - Lucky Me Lite, to the App Store for approval. The developers of Lucky Me Lite are now out to give the iPhone users some more joy by introducing the pro version called Lucky Me Plus. According to Emantras Inc, Lucky Me Plus is now a loaded iPhone/iPod touch game with 14 back to back games, and lot of customizing features. It comes with a customized play list and a quick luck option, and allows users to ‘tweet’ their scores apart from a few more exhilarating features.

The developers of the game feel Lucky Me Plus has innate features to cater to a wide segment of audience age wise. The game has been submitted on Nov 21 and is likely to be on the iTunes stores by end of Dec 1st week.

And who doesn’t want a soothsayer to predict his/her Luck for the day?

It just gets better with Lucky Me Plus.

Check the lite version of Lucky Me

More Articles on Lucky Me Plus - Apptism

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Best Lifestyle Apps for iPhone

Mixologist: Drink Recipes
Digital Outcrop

Genre: Lifestyle
Price: $0.99
Release Date: July 12, 2009



Textfree Unlimited - Send Text Messages (SMS) Free!
Pinger, Inc.

Genre: Lifestyle
Price: $5.99
Release Date: February 28, 2009



Lie To Me
AppMania

Genre: Lifestyle
Price: $0.99
Release Date: September 01, 2009


Lucky Me Lite
Emantras Inc

Genre: Lifestyle
Price: $0.99
Release Date: November 25, 2009


eXtreme Cam Girls
Samba Studios LLC

Genre: Lifestyle
Price: $1.99
Release Date: November 14, 2009

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iPhone Users Suffering from ‘Searching for Service’ Bug

Users over on Apple’s support forums are complaining of a bug that has been around since the first generation iPhone and the 1x software. Even on the 3.1.2 software users are randomly getting their iPhones stuck without service while the phone says it is searching for a signal. This bug does not discriminate either, it does not care what cell phone carrier your are with, whether your device is jailbroken or not, or model of iPhone.

Currently the only way to get around this bug is if you reset your device by holding down the power button along with the home button until you see the Apple logo appear on your screen. Once booted back up your service should be restored.

Fortunately, none of us here at TiPb have personally encountered this behavior from any of our current iPhones. Any of our readers find themselves ’searching for service’?

{Via iLounge}

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Say Hello To The App Christmas Tree

Apple just reveled its global in-store Christmas campaign. This year it consists mainly of a Christmas tree made of apps featuring an iPhone in its middle.



Apple Stores globally now have the iPhone Christmas trees up, with the strapline: 85,000 gifts, one box. We’re not sure why it says 85,000, when there are now over 100,000 apps, but hey… it looks pretty!

It is also too bad they aren’t featuring real apps…

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iTunes App Store “Release Date” Bugs

Check in iTunes App Store, pick a category, and get/go to the Sort by: Release Date listing and I wonder saw the apps with Release date 07 December 2009 and 30 November 2009 are displayed.



But these apps are on sale – Auto indexing sites (Appshopper) showing different dates:




For users looking to find new apps in iTunes, have to hit up third party tracking sites like AppShopper until Apple fixes the App Store proper. For developers who were hoping for the brief spotlight that listing provides for those users, well you’re out some primo free marketing. And for many, that’s going to hurt.

So, to sum up, yes Apple is still needs to get rid of bugs.

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iTunes App Store “Release Date” Sorting Broken?

Swing by the iTunes App Store, pick a category, and get/go to the Sort by: Release Date listing and it may look like Apple hasn’t added any new iPhone and iPod touch apps since November 19 — only they have, and it’s just the iTunes listings that are broken.



Rewind: We started getting questions from users who thought no new apps were being released, or that Apple had somehow frozen the App Store. Then we got reports from developers saying their apps weren’t showing up in the release date listings even though they’d been approved and put into the store. Finally, we got reports of the release date listings being flat out busted, and that’s what looks to be the case.

What does this mean? For users looking to find new apps in iTunes, good luck with that. Absent sort by release date, you’ll have to hit up third party tracking sites like AppShopper until Apple fixes the App Store proper. For developers who were hoping for the brief spotlight that listing provides for those users, well you’re out some primo free marketing. And for many, that’s going to hurt.

So, to sum up, yes Apple is still posting new apps, but no they’re not updating the release date lists, and yes this sucks for both user discovery and developer exposure.

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10 Things We`re Still Missing from the iPhone

News Analysis: The iPhone might be a great device that appeals to many, but the smartphone still lacks several key features that could make it perfect for any user. There is still much that Apple could do to improve its appeal to business users and to greatly expand the application developer community.

1. No Go, Enterprise
2. Multitasking?
3. Where's the Physical Keyboard?
4. We Need Open Source
5. Some Friendly Developer Rules
6. Interchangeable Batteries
7. VOIP over 3G
8. Carrier-Agnosticism
9. Removable Storage
10. Shortage of Serious Competition

{ Via Mobile & Wireless }

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Apple iPhone Commands 50% Share of Worldwide Mobile Data Traffic

"Apple's slice of mobile data traffic has grown to now exceed 50% share in the US, UK and in global figures, according to the latest monthly mobile data traffic report by AdMob," Prince McLean reports for AppleInsider.

"In the worldwide market, AdMob notes that Apple advanced its lead in smartphone traffic share from 43% last month to an even 50%. Symbian slipped from 29% to 25%, while third place Android grew from 10% to 11%. RIM's share fell slightly from 8% to 7%, Windows Mobile dropped from 5% to 3%," McLean reports.

MacDailyNews Note: In October 2009, 70 percent of iPhone OS requests came from the iPhone while the remaining 30 percent came from the iPod touch.



"In the US, AdMob reports that Apple advanced by 7.2% from 48% to 55% of all mobile traffic, while Android grew from 17% to 20% (almost entirely from sales of HTC models). RIM slipped slightly from 14% to 12%, while an initial surge of traffic by Palm Pre WebOS users collapsed from 10% to just 5% in October," McLean reports. "In the UK, Apple's share grew even larger, advancing from 71% in September to a commanding 74% share in October. Symbian and Android both slipped a percentage point, from 12% and 11% in the previous report to 11% and 10% in October, respectively."

Read more in the full article here.

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Apple Targets Verizon Droid in New iPhone Ads

Verizon with its “iDont, Droid Does” advertising campaign has been ruthlessly targeting Apple iPhone, including Apple’s CEO Steve Jobs personally with its recent ad in Sports Illustrated magazine last week. These Droid ads clearly shows how desperate Verizon is to pitch its phones against the mighty iPhone. The Big ‘V’ has got the two Droid phones and is trying too hard to promote them. How far this ad war is going to benefit them is a bit too early to comment on. But one thing that we all were sure off was that Apple is going to respond to them sooner rather than later, knowing how they keep doing it on the PC front with “Get a Mac” ad campaign. And so here they are, the two new iPhone ads takes Droid and Verizon indirectly with the line "Can your phone and your network do that?".


Unlike Verizon which centered its ads solely on anti iPhone theme, the new iPhone ads are focused on iPhone’s ability to hold a simultaneous voice and data connection at the same time on AT&T’s network which other phones like Droid on Verizon cant do. Both the new ads ends with the line "Can your phone and your network do that?". That’s of course a fair enough game.

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Harry Potter gets the official iPhone app

Warner Bros has launched its first Harry Potter app in the AppStore – Harry Potter Spells, which lets players cast spells at their opponents using hand gestures. There is a total of 14 different spells available, and you can either play for yourself, or against a friend — all from a single device.

Right from the start, you’re invited to join the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, and visit Ollivanders’ shop to pick up your wand. Afterwards, you attend the classes to learn how to cast spells, end eventually you’re ready for duels.

Finally, it’s worth adding there’s the Facebook integration, allowing you to post your scores on Facebook. The price is $4.99 and available on the AppStore now.

{Via VentureBeat}

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Another iPhone App Developer Quits Protesting App Store Policing

Another day and yet another app developer calls it quits in protest against Apple' App Store policies.

Shortly after Joe Hewitt, the lead developer at Facebook's iPhone app development team quit, today Rogue Amoeba has announced that they are following suit.


Rogue Amoeba is one of the earliest companies to join the app development bandwagon with release of iPhone apps such as MakeiPhoneRingtone. However, the company has apparently taken to move away from iPhone app development after their brush with Apple's policing over their Airfoil Speakers Touch app.

This iPhone app was released on the App Store a few months back. But problems apparently surfaced when Rogue Amoeba had to issue updates to their software to fix certain bugs. Apple, which had problems with their use of "Apple-owned Graphic Symbols" on their app had rejected the update. Rogue Amoeba, which claims that the use of Mac graphics was to represent navigational elements only and so was within development rules, had been struggling to get past Apple's gatekeeping since July of this year.

In a blog post announcing the release of Airfoil Speakers Touch 1.0.1, the company has written that while the update is finally ready for download, they are shelving future iPhone app projects. In their words,

"The chorus of disenchanted developers is growing and we’re adding our voices as well. Rogue Amoeba no longer has any plans for additional iPhone applications, and updates to our existing iPhone applications will likely be rare. The iPhone platform had great promise, but that promise is not enough, so we’re focusing on the Mac"

However, with only a manual review staff in place, scanning through each and every submitted app for use of private APIs had been a tedious and time consuming process. By automating this potential bottleneck, Apple can not only secure possible loopholes in apps approval but also speed up the entire approval system.

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Facebook iPhone App Developer Quits To Protest Apple App Approval Procedures

The iPhone App Store has been ridiculed quite a bit in the past over their draconian as well as inconsistent approval policies.

These policies of Apple claimed another victim today when Joe Hewitt, the brain behind Facebook's iPhone app announced that he was quitting the project.

In a message sent over Twitter, Joe wrote:

"Time for me to try something new. I’ve handed the Facebook iPhone app off to another engineer, and I’m onto a new project".

When approached by the folks at TechCrunch, Joe revealed that the decision was entirely due to Apple's App Store policies. In his chat with TechCrunch, Joe said


"My decision to stop iPhone development has had everything to do with Apple’s policies. I respect their right to manage their platform however they want, however I am philosophically opposed to the existence of their review process. I am very concerned that they are setting a horrible precedent for other software platforms, and soon gatekeepers will start infesting the lives of every software developer
"

Apple's App Store policies have had very few fans and a disproportionately large number of critics. This has largely been because the company has been inconsistent in its decisions to approve and reject applications. As Joe Hewitt notes, as a software developer, he would rather have his product judged by the users rather than by a middleman.

{Via TechCrunch}

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iPhone App Developers Can View Approval Status

Apple is getting more and more developer friendly. Last week, Apple added a new feature to its Dev Center website that allows app developers to view the approval status of submitted apps. AppleInsider shared this bit of news, whereas in the past Apple had kept developers in the dark about their review and approval process.

There are allegedly nine status levels for submitted applications, including "in review," "ready for sale," and "rejected".




Original Story - AppleInsider

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Apple Responds to Verizon Droid TV Ad

Original Ad from Verizon:



Apple is responding to Verizon Droid TV Ad…

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Droid Continues to Lose Steam Against the iPhone

It is not taking long for reviewers to pick apart the Droid and they only have themselves to blame. Starting a campaign by stating that this phone is everything that the iPhone is not sets a pretty high bar.



They set themselves up for failure in that everyone was expecting some super phone and what they are really getting is an iPhone copycat with not as many applications.

As has been stated before, there are features on the Droid that are very good and some of them may even be better than the iPhone, but it is simply not enough to warrant changing providers or doubling your cell phone bill. Most people that already have an iPhone are looking at a monthly service bill of at least $150 a month and some are up around the $200 level. That would be an extra $1,800-$2,400 a year to have both phones and it is simply not worth it.

This is just one man’s opinion, but before the Droid took on a giant like the iPhone, they should have had a deeper library of apps to stand behind. While the iPhone had a similar amount when it was first launched, it was a one-of-a-kind and was only competing with the Blackberry as a smart phone. This is the one point that is hammered home time and time again by people that are trying out the Droid. Why change phones to a product that only offers 10% of the apps that the Apple iPhone does?

Droid may one day be a true threat to the success of the iPhone, but that time is not now. If anything, they are further convincing Verizon customers to switch over to AT&T to have a phone that can do anything from translate a baby’s crying picking a good spot to put in a wind turbine as an alternative energy source. Right now, the Droid is simply out of its league.

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iPhone Developer Selling Business on Ebay

Texas based independent developer Brice Milliorn today announced the sale of JBMJBM, LLC. This is a well established company whose sole purpose is creating consumer applications for the iPhone platform. The business is currently listed for sale on eBay as a 10 day auction. 87 apps in all, some of his best-selling applications are Friday Night Lights, iSpy Game, iReferee, iSexyRef, iSexyRef2, Pro Rodeo Fan, Sit Up Counter, Shake 2 Count & several College oriented apps for sports enthusiasts.

Starting Price: $100,000



Independent developer Brice Milliorn today announced the sale of JBMJBM, LLC. JBMJBM is a well established company whose sole purpose is creating consumer applications for the iPhone platform. JBMJBM has seen an explosive growth in just under a year, and offers a stable of high quality, well developed applications that are mixed in scope and genre.

Some of Brice’s best-selling applications are Friday Night Lights, iSpy Game, iReferee, iSexyRef, iSexyRef2, Pro Rodeo Fan, Sit Up Counter, Shake 2 Count as well as several College oriented applications for sports enthusiasts, and many more. All applications are currently listed on the App Store and are selling now.

Best-selling applications:
* Friday Night Lights
* iSpy Game
* iReferee
* iSexyRef
* iSexyRef2
* Pro Rodeo Fan
* Sit Up Counter
* Shake 2 Count
* And many more
* Plus several College sports applications

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Quick Walkthrough: Spicing up iPhone screenshots with Photoforge and Photogene

Quick Walkthrough: Spicing up iPhone screenshots with Photoforge and Photogene

Posted using ShareThis

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Emantras' 1st Paid iPhone App – Lucky Me Lite

Best iPhone apps at AppStoreHQ
mLab Emantras, the hotshot specialty animation firm, which shot into fame with its two acclaimed animation movies and web gaming diversified into iPhone gaming with Adam’s Trouble in August 2009.

Post the success of the free iPhone game (Adams Trouble), they launched the 1st paid iPhone app called Lucky Me lite a month ago (Published on Oct 09 on Store).
The iPhone app market is hotting up, with 100,000 apps already listed and 2 billion downloaded so far.

Lucky Me is a series of 7 mini games in one package and is available on iTunes since Oct 11. Launched for 99c, the game promises to pack in quite a punch with 7 separate mini games with exquisite and riveting features.

About the Game - http://www.luckyme.mobi/

Lucky Me is all about testing and scoring your luck. It comes with a luck meter which shows the score after each session/activity and also provides a Luck quote which will describe how lucky or unlucky you are at the moment.

Lucky Me also features multiple gestures like tilt, pinch tap, shake etc.. It also facilitates sharing the scores on facebook and challenging your friends to match your luck.

Lucky Me - Advanced version will also be available in a few days. That will feature nearly 20 games in one package with more interesting features. So the next time you want to determine your luck, stash away the fortune cookies and crystal balls. Go for Lucky Me – every bit of it is sheer fun.

Lte me see how interesting is the advanced version of Lucky Me App.

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Google buys AdMob - $750 million

The world of mobile and iPhone advertising has received a significant shakeup with the news that Google has entered a definite agreement to buy mobile network company AdMob for $750 million in stock.

It's a huge valuation for a company that was founded in 2006 but has only taken off with the release of the iPhone.

After Google, AdMob is the largest mobile advertiser. It claims to have served over 1.25 trillon ads to date.

Of course AdMob founder and CEO Omar Hamoui is in ebullient mood and has posted a long explanation of the deal on the AdMob website.

"After our deal with Google closes, we will work together to accelerate the pace of innovation in this area," he says.

"Obviously this transaction represents only a part of their [Google's] overall interest in mobile but all of us at AdMob are looking forward to working with them to make sure that the future of mobile is no longer so far away."

Original Story from: http://www.pocketgamer.biz/r/PG.Biz/AdMob+news/news.asp?c=16647

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App Store's content hits 100,000 mark

The App Store is now home to over 100,000 apps, while downloads have surpassed the two billion mark, Apple has announced.

At the end of September, the number of apps stood at 85,000, with over 125,000 developers signed up to Apple's iPhone Developer Programme. A breakdown of category content on the store found that games are by far the most popular type of app available, accounting for 19.6 per cent of the Store's content.

"The App Store, now with over 100,000 applications available, is clearly a major differentiator for millions of iPhone and iPod touch customers around the world," said Apple's senior VP of worldwide product marketing, Philip Schiller. "The iPhone SDK created the first great platform for mobile applications and our customers are loving all of the amazing apps our developers are creating."

"The App Store has forever changed the mobile gaming industry and continues to improve," added Travis Boatman, EA Mobile's VP of worldwide studios. "With a global reach of over 50 million iPhone and iPod touch users, the App Store has allowed us to develop high quality EA games that have been a huge success with customers."

Apple's digital store is now available in 77 countries. A new App Purchase feature recently introduced by the platform holder now allows developers to sell content, subscriptions and digital services directly to users from within their applications.

Original Story at http://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/app-store-content-tops-100-000

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