Apple App Store Hits 1 Billion Downloads, Rewards 13-Year-Old

Last week Apple announced that its iPhone and iPod Touch App Store had delivered its one-billionth application. The recipient of that application and winner of Apple's one billion app countdown contest, 13-year-old Connor Mulcahey of Weston, Conn., was announced shortly thereafter. Mulcahey will receive a MacBook Pro, a $10,000 iTunes gift card, an iPod touch and a Time Capsule backup device.

The store reached the milestone after nine months of operation. The billionth application downloaded was Bump, which allows users to exchange information from one iPhone or iPod touch to another by bumping hands while holding the devices.

AppReview Helps Customers Find The BEST iPhone® and iPod Touch® Apps

SALT LAKE CITY--(BUSINESS WIRE)--As the number of available apps for the iPhone and iPod Touch continues to climb, users and developers are finding it a challenge to connect the right user with the BEST applications. A newly approved application called AppReview can help both.

AppReview is a website (appreview.com) and a free-of-charge iPhone and iPod Touch application available from the Apple iTunes App Store. AppReview provides the following features and benefits to iPhone and iPod Touch users:

• Over 16,000 hands-on app reviews: AppReview’s dedicated application review team has created one of the largest databases of app reviews available, with up-to-date reviews for more than half of all apps currently available in the App Store.
• Refined Sub-Categories: The AppReview tool provides the ability to group apps into a higher-level of refinement, which include sub-categories to the Apple-provided categories. By grouping applications into smaller groupings—customers can more easily make decisions on which application best suits their needs. 100 percent of applications are reviewed and placed in a specific subcategory.
• App Features: 100 percent of applications undergo an initial THUMBS-UP/DOWN test to determine if the application feature claims are represented accurately or if the application worked as designed during the testing process. Relative to the number of apps available very few receive a THUMBS-DOWN rating.
• App Comparison: In this phase, an application is rigorously tested to determine how it performs relative to others in the same subcategory. This process produces an independent analysis that suggests which apps offer the BEST solution as-well as those which are BETTER than most, and even the apps that offer GOOD value. To date, AppReview has completed this process for more-than half of the 30,000+ applications which have been approved for distribution through the App Store.
• Shopping List: To enable a consumer to make multiple purchase decisions, AppReview has delivered a shopping list right on the iPhone as a temporary holding place for apps that customers intend to download eventually. This feature is particularly valuable for quickly provisioning a completely new iPhone or iPod Touch with multiple apps.
• Developer-friendly: In the ever-changing environment around available apps, we recognize the possibility that an app may evolve faster than a follow-up review falls in the review cycle. Developers have the option of requesting a priority re-review of their application(s) or adding additional promotional material including videos. AppReview will continue to diligently guard the independent review process to ensure that the consumer receives an unbiased evaluation in making their app purchase decisions.

“It doesn’t take much imagination to see the problem that iPhone and iPod Touch users and even app developers are now experiencing,” says Curtis Tirrell, AppReview CEO. “I cannot anticipate that any user could realistically evaluate 30,000 apps today, much less 100,000 by the end of the year. Customers need a tool that will help them filter their search to the best, right app.”

"We were pleased to see that i.TV was featured by AppReview and feel an application like this is a plus for developers and end users," said Justin Whittaker, vice president of marketing at i.TV. "With so many applications out there, it is as difficult for applications to get noticed as it is for people to find new applications and AppReview solves this problem."

About AppReview, LLC

Founded in 2008, AppReview was conceived as a solution to reconcile the growing number of iPhone and iPod Touch applications available through the Apple App store. The solution was designed to make the user experience more effective both on the iPhone and iPod Touch or online in assisting in finding the best possible apps. For more information or to review the list of BEST applications, please visit http://www.appreview.com/ or through the AppReview app available through the Apple iTunes App Store. Follow AppReview on Twitter: http://twitter.com/apprevieweditor/

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WiBro Enabled on iPod Touch, Nintendo DS

KT will market a portable gateway, dubbed ”Egg,” which will enable WiBro on Wi-Fi devices such as iPod Touch and Nintendo DS. / Korea Times By Kim Tong-hyung Staff Reporter The backers of WiBro tout the wireless technology as ``Wi-Fi on steroids.'' Consumers will now be able to test the claim for themselves, with the country's biggest WiBRo operator, in desperation to gather more subscribers, introducing a portable gateway that enables WiBro on Wi-Fi devices such as laptop computers, portable media players and game machines. KT, the country's largest telephone company and Internet operator, said that its wireless gateway, ``Egg,'' will hit the shelves at electronic stores later this month. The device will allow WiBro connectivity in products with Wi-Fi capability, such as Apple's iPod Touch multimedia players, the Nintendo DS handheld game consoles, and a wide range of laptop computers and other mobile Internet devices. Egg will come with a 220,000 won (about $163) price tag, although subscribers to KT's monthly 27,000 won flat-rate plan, which provides an allowance of 50 gigabytes in data use, get the machines free of charge. The device will also be sold at Apple's major retail stores in Samseong-dong and Myeong-dong, Seoul, starting in May, KT officials said. ``We believe that Egg will offer our WiBro services to more customers, as it had been only compatible with a limited number of terminals for laptops and phones,'' said Kang Kuk-hyun, who heads KT's WiBro business. WiBro, a local variant of mobile WiMAX, provides faster data rates than third-generation (3G) services, with download speeds of around 37 megabytes per second and upload speeds of 8 megabytes per second. However, in one of the world's most wired nations, WiBro has struggled to gain traction. KT has spent more than 730 billion won on its WiBro business since its commercial launch in 2006, but has little to show for it. SK Telecom, the mobile telephony king and the country's other WiBro operator, has it even worse. The two companies have just 170,000 customers in total and a hair above 25 billion won in revenue for their WiBro services, making a mockery of government predictions of 1.4 million subscribers and 290 billion won in sales by 2008. thkim@koreatimes.co.kr

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IPod Touch, IPhone Sales Total 37 Million Units

In a question and answer session with financial analysts during Wednesday's second quarter earnings call, Apple COO Tim Cook revealed that iPod touch sales have "more than doubled year over year." Combined, iPhone and iPod touch sales total about 37 million units.

Cook called that combined number an "enormous platform for developers," adding that with the recent changes introduced with Apple's iPhone 3.0 SDK, which went beta in March and is expected to be released to customers this summer, Apple and its development partners will soon "unleash a whole new level of innovation that keeps Apple years ahead of everyone else."

In a later question, Cook again referred to the iPod touch, calling it "a runaway hit" whose success is "clearly driven by the App Store." To that end, Apple CFO Peter Oppenheimer indicated that one of the reasons the iPod touch has been so successful is as a games device.

"All genres [on the App Store] are very popular," said Oppenheimer, "but games are quite popular. That's one of the reasons the iPod touch has been such a success."

Overall, Apple continues to steamroll the competition when it comes to marketshare for digital music players. A recent report from NPD shows that Apple maintains more than 70 percent of the market in the United States alone, and continues to gain share in worldwide markets year-over-year.

In his preamble, Oppenheimer said the App Store now totals more than 35,000 applications.

Cook said that Apple expects to sell its one billionth application on the App Store sometime on Thursday, April 23rd -- only nine months after the store first went online to sell software to iPhone and iPod touch users.

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Deal: Apple iPod touch 1G Refurb - Starting at $159

• Written by Christopher Price on April 24, 2009
• Apple, Wi-Fi

Apple is selling their refurbished original iPod touch units at a bargain price. The 8GB iPod touch sells for just $159 on their store.

Why is this on PhoneNews.com? Well, we’ve been at the forefront of the iPod touch revolution. Using a Wi-Fi slinging smartphone, you can feed any iPod touch 3G connectivity… and have a setup that balances open apps on your phone, with Apple’s beautiful, walled garden.

In short, you get a phone that can do what you want it to do, combined with a PDA that has the best web surfing and email ever built. And, at $159, it’s the lowest price ever to get you access to the App Store.

Apple Recertified products carry a full one year “as new” warranty, and are elegible for a second year of warranty coverage with the $59 AppleCare Protection Plan.

Apple iPod touch 1G Refurbished - 8GB for $159
Apple iPod touch 1G Refurbished - 16GB for $219

Apple iPod touch 2G Refurbished - 8 GB for $199
Apple iPod touch 2G Refurbished - 8 GB for $259
Apple iPod touch 2G Refurbished - 8 GB for $349

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iPod dock + HDD media player kit = Movie Cowboy Box

Japan-based Digital Cowboy today announced the Movie CowBoy DC-MC35ULI [JP], a device serving as an iPod dock and an HDD media player that’s compatible with 3.5-inch SATA HDDs (sold separately). Users wanting to watch movies from their hard disc can directly connect the box-like Movie CowBoy with their TV via HDMI.

The device neither supports the iPhone nor the iPod touch but any other iPod. It can play MPEG2 HD/DivX HD/XviD HD/MPEG-1/2/DivX/ and XviD video files. Videos can be watched in full HD (1080i). Audio formats supported include MP3/WMA/AAC/OGG/WAV/AC3, and DTS.

The device comes with a USB port and Ethernet so you can easily access YouTube, MS Live and Google’s picture service Picasa without switching on your PC. It’s sized at 225×59×200mm (weight: 850g).

As the Movie CowBoy is Japan-only, I suggest contacting the Japan Trend Shop, Gizmine, Geek Stuff 4 U or Rinkya if you are interested in buying it. It costs $250 in Japan (on sale early May).

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Update: Apple Hits 1 Billion App Store Downloads

Daniel Ionescu, PC World

Apr 24, 2009 7:15 pm

Apple's App Store for iPhone and iPod Touch has served its one-billionth application, only nine months after the store opened. Last night Apple celebrated the milestone on its Web site, thanking customers for their support. The lucky App Store patron who downloaded the one billionth app will win a barrel of Apple loot from company. Apple also took the opportunity to brag about its success in the mobile ad marketplace and for driving massive amount of mobile Net traffic.

Apple started the official countdown two weeks ago to its one billionth app served. The company hasn't announced who downloaded the billionth app yet. That person will win $10,000 in iTunes credit, a 17-inch MacBook Pro, a 32GB iPod touch, and an Apple Time Capsule.

UPDATE: Apple just revealed that the winner of its billion app download contest is Connor Mulcahey from Weston, Connecticut. The 13 year-old downloaded the billionth app called Bump, a tool for swapping information such as contact details and photos.

More than 37 million devices are running Apple's mobile operating system: more than 21 million iPhones and more than 15 million iPod touches (with some 35,000 apps available in the store) according to the company. Besides driving the success of the App Store, these devices also helped Apple control 50 percent of the mobile ad market and drive the most mobile OS Internet traffic in the U.S., according to the latest market reports.

AdMob's research shows that the iPhone and iPod touch serve around 50 percent of the mobile ad requests in the U.S., followed by Research In Motion with 22 percent and Windows Mobile with 11 percent. Worldwide, Apple's handsets go neck-to-neck with Nokia's when it comes to traffic generated by smartphones. AdMob's data shows that Apple's devices drive the most traffic world wide, counting in at 38 percent.

However, despite its overall success, Apple's App store is not flawless. This week the company has come under criticism after releasing and the retracting an application which was considered by many offensive and unethical (read full story). Apple's selection process for application approval in its store also has a history of banned applications, leaving many developers unhappy with the company's decisions.

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High-Def Movies for Sale on iTunes

Watch out, Blu-ray: Apple is now offering high definition movies for sale—including the big-buzz “Twilight”—to iTunes subscribers for $19.99.

The download also includes a standard definition copy for viewing on an iPod or iPhone. And the HD versions can be rented for $4.99, Apple says, within a month of release.

Apple has been offering HD television shows since last year, and now takes a seat on the bench of an HD-movie bandwagon already occupied by Netflix and Blockbuster. The iTunes Store currently has 40,000 TV episodes, and about 5,000 movies, including 1,200 in high-definition (it’s also been reported that Amazon is planning to sell HD TV shows from its website for $3 an episode–the same price that Apple charges).

ITunes customers can pre-order the James Bond extravaganza “Quantum of Solace” for download on Tuesday, and HD titles like “Transporter 3” and “Punisher: War Zone” right away. The selection is on display here. You’ll need to be running iTunes version 8.1 or later to acquire HD content, Apple says.

And you’ll need patience for movie gratification via iTunes. The standard version of “Quantum” comes in at 1.55 gigabytes, while the HD capture is a whopping 3.37 gigs. Plan a nap while waiting for the download.

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