Asymco, a Helsinki-based app developer / industry analysis advisory firm, ironically founded and led by a longtime Nokia manager, just posted this telling chart on its blog:
According to the firm’s research, iTunes download rates for music and iOS apps are both still growing, but accelerating much faster for the latter. In fact, Asymco posits, based on data from the recently updated Music and App Store, that the total number of app downloads has already reached the same level as that of songs in less than half the time. → Read More
It took Apple’s review team close to a month, but the update to the Rdio iPhone application is now finally available from the App Store (iTunes link).
It’s unclear why it took Apple this long, considering the update merely fixes some software bugs and adds one minor feature (remembering which song you were playing when you last closed the app). → Read More
Research reports forecasting future market sizes should always be taken with a grain of salt, but it occasionally helps to see the estimates of research organizations in order to gain some perspective on the current and upcoming trends for those markets.
With that in mind, let’s take a look at what research2guidance has to say about the worldwide smartphone application market, which it estimates will grow from $1.94 billion in 2009 to $15.65 billion by 2013. → Read More
Apple this morning announced that more than 3 billion apps have been downloaded from its App Store by iPhone and iPod touch users worldwide. This comes nearly 9 months after it first hit 1 billion downloads served, and just over 3 months since it reached the 2 billion downloads mark.
No doubt, the holiday season helped increase the number of downloads so rapidly. But still: 1 billion additional downloads in 3 months and one week is just incredible. → Read More
While there are well over 100,000 iPhone / iPod Touch applications available in the App Store today, early adopters might remember the “Where To?” application (iTunes link), initially developed by tap tap tap, which was one of the first 500 to debut on the platform.
It did pretty well, but tap tap tap ended up putting the app up for sale in October 2008 regardless. German startup FutureTap outbid other potential buyers and ultimately purchased the iPhone app from tap tap tap for $70k upfront a couple of months later.
In a blog post published earlier today, FutureTap’s Ortwin Gentz looks back at his initial expectations following the acquisition, and the way it turned out to be instead. He also talks about sales numbers in detail, which is why we think you’d be interested in the story, too. → Read More
Here’s a tip for all you iPhone app developers out there. If you want to make sure your app doesn’t join the long list of rejected iPhone apps out there, make sure it doesn’t advertise a competing product, especially if that product runs the Android operating system. Swavv Apps (creators of Beer Pong) learned that lesson recently when they tried to get their iDroid app past the App Store censors.
The iDroid didn’t do much. It didn’t replicate any Droid features or take over any functionality of the iPhone (that would have made it a worthwhile app). All it did was display the glowing red Droid eye. If you tapped on the eye, it then showed some marketing bullet points about the competing phone such as the fact that it can run simultaneous apps and has a slide-out keyboard (something the iPhone lacks). The second page also shows a picture of the Droid with its keyboard out. → Read More
Internet commerce juggernaut eBay is unveiling a brand new iPhone application dubbed Deals today, alongside an upgraded version of its shopping app for the iPhone and iPod Touch platform and an enhanced mobile website. And there’s a good reason for eBay to bolster its mobile offering: the company says its mobile GMV (value of goods sold) via its iPhone app and mobile website (m.ebay.com) is on track to top half a billion dollars by the end of this year.
Impressive number, and that’s not the end of the story. eBay also shared that its mobile GMV is growing at a double-digit rate month-over-month, and that approximately half of its 750,000 unique mobile users per month are situated outside the United States. Another interesting tidbit: eBay says 1 item is purchased every 2 seconds through its mobile offering.
Earlier this year, eBay CEO John Donahoe told a conference audience that the value of goods sold through the eBay iPhone app alone would exceed $400 million, and that an upgraded version of the app was imminent. That updated app should now be available, and it gained a little brother, too. → Read More
We already knew Waveboard was bringing Google Wave to both the desktop and the iPhone with two dedicated clients, but you’ll be interested to know the iPhone app is now live on the App Store and available for less than a buck (iTunes link).
As you can tell from the short demo video below, the app does exactly what you think it does: it displays ‘waves’ and lets you search historical ones, start new ones and manage your contacts. It also opens external links in a custom browser without the need to leave the app. Waveboard also supports push notifications through a workaround (you need both the Prowl iPhone app and the Mac version of Waveboard), although they did say the next iteration will have proper push notifications. → Read More
Holy m-commerce, Batman!
According to eBay CEO John Donahoe, shoppers have already spent about $400 million on the popular commerce site using the company’s free iPhone application.
The number pales in comparison with eBay’s total sales figure ($59.7 billion last year), but it’s fairly significant considering the fact that the iPhone has a relatively small market share – about 15% of the smartphone segment – and mobile payment transactions are still new to many. Who would have predicted around half a billion dollar in sales a year would be recorded through the eBay iPhone app when it debuted on the App Store last year? → Read More
Someecards is so damn funny. Too funny, apparently for Apple.
In a move that is only surprising because Apple has been getting better about ridiculous app rejections, Apple has rejected Someecards iPhone app on the grounds that it “contains objectionable content and content that ridicules public figures.” Anyone who has ever visited Someecards will know that this is standard practice, and one of the things that makes the site so funny.
So who are those public figures? Well one is Hilter. Another is Michael Richards (Kramer from Seinfeld). And a third is Roman Polanski (by way of Jack Nicholson). → Read More
We’ve covered a couple of Distimo reports in the past because they provide us with some valuable insights on Apple’s App Store and Google’s Android Market based on the startup’s in-depth analysis of publicly available data. Now the company has added RIM’s Blackberry App World store to the fray, which gives us even more data points to compare the rivals’ app pricing and whatnot.
In the latest report (September 2009), Distimo notes software programs for Blackberry devices are considerably more expensive than comparable apps for competing devices/platforms.
In fact, the average price for apps is more than three times higher than the one for similar apps in the App Store and Android Market, which is sort of unbelievable. There’s not a single category where the average price of an app is lower than its equivalent on the latter two application storefronts, and the more serious, business-related tools are definitely much more expensive. (chart after the jump) → Read More
Easily the quote of the night at Palm’s Developer gathering in San Francisco came from Katie Mitic, Palm’s senior vice president of product marketing. “We want to leave it all out there. You know, ‘The Full Monty‘,” she emphatically said when noting that Palm’s goal was to be more open.
Anyone who has seen the 1997 British film of the same name will realize that such an act would certainly be more open. But will it work?
Open Apple
If there has ever been any question as to who Palm sees as its main rival in the quest for next generation smartphone domination, just look at its ranks. The company is filled with ex-Apple employees, all the way up to the top with CEO Jon Rubinstein (who was in attendance tonight), who is the man often credited for being instrumental in the creation of the iPod for Apple. And if that’s not enough, just listen to the rhetoric: → Read More
We’ve been getting a number of tips about iTunes Connect being down for the past couple of days. Looking into it a little deeper, it appears these are not isolated issues, and that app developers all over the world have been experiencing failing or extremely slow iTunes Connect linkups for at least the past 48 hours.
iTunes Connect is software that provides access to tools and resources third-party developers need for distribution of iPhone and iPod touch applications through the iTunes App Store, including app delivery, management tools, sales information, banking setup, and financial reporting. → Read More
Apple has been working overtime recently to right some of the App Store wrongs, led by none other than Senior VP Phil Schiller. And having exposed some App Store approval process secrets in its letter to the FCC, everything should be all hunky dory in the App Store now, right? Wrong.
It’s hard to remember an app in recent memory that has been anticipated more than Facebook’s new 3.0 version of its iPhone app. How do I know? You should see my Facebook inbox from people who have hunted me down knowing that I have it since I reviewed it. Unfortunately, I can’t give it to anyone because it’s a version tied specifically to my iPhone (so stop emailing!). It’s been a week and a half since Facebook engineer Joe Hewitt submitted the app to the App Store, and the wait time frustration is not only getting to the users, but to Hewitt himself, as he made clear in a blog post tonight.
Simply put, Hewitt’s post is a must-read because he makes a range of excellent points in a fairly condensed space. We’ll simply highlight some of the larger ones. → Read More
Scientist wannabes, rejoice!
Discovery Communications has released a Discovery Channel application on the iTunes App Store (link to the program), bringing heaps of video content produced by the popular non-fiction media company to the iPhone and iPod Touch. In addition to video clips, the app also boasts a collection of quizzes, photo galleries, programming schedules and updates from Discovery News. Furthermore, you can use the app to share content via e-mail and save to favorites for your re-watching pleasure.
Evidently, full episodes for Discovery’s top programming (Shark Week, Man vs. Wild, MythBusters, etc.) are not available through the free yet ad-supported application, but it does come with links to the iTunes Store where the media company offers a selection of full episodes for purchase. → Read More
