Bing May Become iPhone's Default Search Engine

It’s no secret that Apple and Microsoft have one of the stranger relationships in tech. While Microsoft has produced software such as Office for the Macintosh platform, and Apple has opened its doors to Windows with its switch to Intel, they still are highly competitive with each other. But Cupertino’s relationship with Google is souring far faster, which is the perfect opening for Microsoft when it comes to the iPhone.

Apple is apparently in discussions with Microsoft to give the Bing search engine the top spot for search on iPhone, which currently belongs to Google. These talks have been underway for several weeks, BusinessWeek reports, but nothing as of yet has been finalized.

Getting on the iPhone as the default search engine would be a huge win for Bing. I regularly search for things on my iPhone, so just the boost there in search queries would help Microsoft overall in gaining some search share, something it sorely needs. It’s not clear whether any search deal would also extend to the Safari browser, available on both the Macintosh and Windows platforms.

Either way, its pretty likely that Google wouldn’t be completely erased from the iPhone. YouTube is a popular application. Apple would probably also let users switch back to Google in settings just like it already does now if users wish to search using Yahoo. Bing Maps could replace Google Maps, however.

What are your thoughts on the increasingly hostile relationship between Apple and Google? Who stands to benefit most here? We’d like to hear what you think.

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iPod Touch and iPhone sales explode this Christmas

Flurry, the Mobile App Analytics firm, revealed yesterday that the iPhone and iPod touch sales have nearly doubled from November and this holiday season has seen iPod Touch’s sales skyrocket along with iPhone. Check this chart.



The company says that over Christmas, downloads from iPod touches exceeded those from iPhones by 172% – and that downloads from third-generation iPod touches jumped by 900% on Christmas Day itself, compared to the average of previous Fridays in December. December was a record-breaking month for the App Store, with downloads increasing by more than 50% compared to November based on average daily download figures.

This indicates that iPod touch sales skyrocketed leading up to Christmas, helping generate major gains in App Store downloads

{via - 9to5Mac}

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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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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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