iLounge

App Store: 500 million downloads, 15,000 apps

• January 16, 2009
• iPhone Applications
• digg this

Apple has announced via an image on the homepage of apple.com that the App Store has now seen more than 500 million downloads since its launch on July 11, 2008. In addition, the image reveals that there are now more than 15,000 applications available from the online store. Although the image states that “iPhone users have downloaded an incredible 500 million” apps, it is assumed that this number encompasses both iPhone and iPod touch users, and that downloads also includes post-purchase updates. On December 5, Apple announced the store had passed the 300 million download milestone, meaning that users have downloaded at least 200 million apps in the five weeks since, compared to the six weeks it took the store to go from 200 million to 300 million downloads.

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Sign up for iPodweek, iLounge’s weekly newsletter

• January 16, 2009
• Site News
• digg this

This week’s edition of iLounge’s weekly newsletter, iPodweek, will be available later today. iPodweek is a weekly summary of the best iPod news, reviews, and feature articles we’ve published, and it also features giveaways and iPod accessory discount offers from various companies and retailers. There is still plenty of time to sign up for this week’s edition, if you haven’t done so already — just use the simple form below to submit your email address.

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Nintendo’s Duck Hunt hits App Store

• January 16, 2009
• iPhone Applications
• digg this

iPhone developer Lucas Manfield has released Duck Hunt, a $1 port of the classic Nintendo Entertainment System game. Unlike the original, which used the NES Zapper gun controller, this iPhone and iPod touch port uses an on-screen joystick and single “A” button for control, both taken from Nintendo controller designs. The developer notes that upcoming versions will also include sound, the dog from the original, and the clay shooting mode, also found in the 1984 release. Although the game has been approved by Apple, it likely infringes on Nintendo copyrights, making it highly possible that the game will be pulled from the App Store. We are awaiting comment from Nintendo regarding the title.

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EA Mobile delays Need for Speed for iPhone

• January 16, 2009
• iPhone Applications
• digg this

EA Mobile has revealed that its Need for Speed Underground racing game for iPhone and iPod touch, originally slated for release in 2008 and more recently pushed back until early this year, is now set for a March release. Adam Sussman, EA Mobile’s vice president of publishing in the Americas and Asia, told IGN, “EA Mobile is excited about the Need for Speed Undercover iPhone and iPod touch game we have in development. Currently, we are fine tuning and polishing the game so that when it launches it is the best, most engaging racing game iPhone users have yet to experience. We appreciate the anticipation around the arrival of this game. As we approach a confirmed ship date, we will alert the community so stay tuned for more information in the coming months.”

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Mix: Jobs’ health, Chipotle, Nike Training app

• January 15, 2009
• Mix
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Apple CEO Steve Jobs is suffering not from a reoccurrence of cancer but from a condition that is preventing his body from absorbing food, according to a New York Times report. Citing two people familiar with Jobs’ current medical treatment, the report states that doctors have also advised him to cut down on stress, which may be making the condition worse. Yesterday afternoon, Apple posted an email from Jobs in which he announced his intentions to take a six-month leave of absence from the company; this announcement came only a week after a similar open letter from Jobs blaming his weight loss on a “hormonal imbalance.”

Following the release and then prompt recall of Chipotle’s Mobile Ordering application for iPhone and iPod touch, Sequence, the company that built the app for the burrito chain, has explained its disappearance. According to TechCrunch, the app was pulled after a few hours because of unexpected demand that was overloading the company’s servers. Users were experiencing connection difficulties with enough frequency that the team decided it would rather pull the application until it could offer a more enjoyable and reliable experience. Sequence is hoping to have it back on the App Store in two weeks, along with some minor interface improvements.

Nike has released its Nike Training Club application for iPhone and the second-generation iPod touch. The new application provides a link to nikewomen.com, with the ability to customize workouts and invite friends for competition. It also provides access to dynamic training videos focusing on cardio, core, strength, balance, and flexibility, along with training schedules. Nike Training Club is available now as a free download from the App Store.

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Apple CEO Steve Jobs taking leave of absence

• January 14, 2009
• Apple
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CNBC is reporting that Apple co-founder and CEO Steve Jobs is taking a leave of absence from the company due to health reasons. Earlier this month, Apple published an open letter from Jobs, in which he blamed his recent weight loss on a “hormone imbalance.” He said it would take several months to regain the weight, and reassured investors and followers alike that he would remain Apple’s CEO during his recovery. The story is developing; we will update this story as more details emerge.

Update: Apple has released a copy of Jobs’ internal email sent out to Apple employees announcing the decision. The full text appears below.

“Team,

I am sure all of you saw my letter last week sharing something very personal with the Apple community. Unfortunately, the curiosity over my personal health continues to be a distraction not only for me and my family, but everyone else at Apple as well. In addition, during the past week I have learned that my health-related issues are more complex than I originally thought. …

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Apple announcement poll ends, iLounge coverage poll begins

• January 14, 2009
• Site News
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With over 1,800 votes from iLounge readers, our latest poll, “How should Apple announce big products now that it’s ditching Macworld Expo?” has ended. Voters were given choices including continuing with small press events and the developer-focused WWDC, offering small press events with live broadcasts to Apple retail stores, hosting simultaneous events at Apple retail stores with product specialists to announce and explain new products, return to offering live video streams of press events that can be watched anywhere, exhibiting at non-Macworld trade shows, and a “who cares” option.

More than one-third of all voters (36%) said they’d like to see Apple go back to offering live video streams of press events that can be watched virtually anywhere there’s an internet connection, while more than a quarter of voters (26%) said it should continue its current strategy of hosting small press events, along with the developer-heavy WWDC. Somewhat surprisingly, 19% of readers said they didn’t care about Apple special events, followed by 9% that suggested the company offer small press events with live broadcasts to Apple retail stores. 7% said Apple should hold simultaneous events at Apple retail stores, sending product specialists to announce and explain new products, while only 3% said the company should exhibit at non-Macworld trade shows. Thanks for all your votes!

Our new poll focuses on the future of iLounge’s accessory coverage. We want to know whether you’d like us to bother to cover obviously junky accessories, sent for review by question-mark companies, or focus all of our attention on the good stuff. Our latest poll, “Should iLounge bother to cover junky, half-baked accessories, like this one?” lets you answer that question. You can find the poll in the left column of our front page. Vote today!

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DanceDanceRevolution S Lite now available for iPhone

• January 14, 2009
• iPhone Applications
• digg this

Konami has released its DanceDanceRevolution S Lite rhythm game for the iPhone and iPod touch. Based on the popular arcade dancing series and meant as a preview for the upcoming full version of DanceDanceRevolution S, the Lite version lets users tap on the screen to the rhythm of the song, with upcoming arrows rising from the bottom of the screen. DanceDanceRevolution S Lite is available now as a free download from the App Store.

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Third-party browsing apps appear on App Store

• January 14, 2009
• iPhone Applications
• digg this

In a shift away from its prior policy of barring third-party web browsing applications on the basis that they duplicated existing functionality, Apple has allowed a small group of third-party browsing apps to appear in the App Store. Amongst the new apps are Edge Browser (Free), which clears up screen real estate by removing the address and navigation bars, Incognito ($2), which lets users browse without leaving a history of any kind, WebMate:Tabbed Browser ($1), which stores all clicked links in a queue, letting the user read them one-by-one as they’re ready, and Shaking Web ($2), a browser with a vibration-reduction like algorithm designed for use while moving.

With at least one submission date going back to October, it appears that Apple had a special list of such applications for possible future release; these standalone applications all appear to be based upon Apple’s own Safari browser, which has also been incorporated in various ways into other, more complex applications to eliminate the need to switch between an app an a separate browser for certain features. It is unclear what these standalone browser releases mean for full-scale browsers such as Firefox and Opera, which were previously thought to be blocked by the iPhone SDK agreement. [via Mac Rumors]

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Photo of the Week: iPhone 3G in Australia

• January 14, 2009
• Site News
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This week’s featured photo is from our iPhones Around the World gallery, and shows an iPhone 3G inside a bucket, lying on the sands of Dee Why beach in New South Wales, Australia. Interestingly, the photo notes that while the bucket provides some limited protection from the sand, it also serves to amplify the sound coming from the iPhone’s speakers. To share your photos and to be considered for our Photo of the Week, you simply need to submit your own photo to one of our galleries. So get out there, take some pictures with your iPod or iPhone, and maybe your submission will be our next Photo of the Week!

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Slacker releases Radio app for iPhone, iPod touch

• January 13, 2009
• iPhone Applications
• digg this

U.S.-based interactive Internet radio service Slacker has released its new Slacker Radio application for the iPhone and iPod touch. Similar to services provided by Pandora Radio and Last.fm, Slacker gives users access to over 100 stations pre-programmed by radio professionals, along with the ability to pick stations based on genre, artist, or to create new stations based on a specific band or artist, which also contain music from similar artists as recommendations. In addition, the app allows users to view artist bios as well as album art and reviews. Slacker Radio is available as a free download from the App Store.

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Mix: iPhone chips, Appy Entertainment, HAVA, Conchords

• January 13, 2009
• Mix
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Chinese-language paper the Economic Daily News is reporting that Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) and United Microelectronics Corporation (UMC) are likely to land chip orders from Apple for an upcoming iPhone, possibly the rumored iPhone nano. According to the report, the orders may come in March, while the launch of the handset itself is said to be scheduled for June at the earliest.

Long-time console gaming veterans Chris Ulm, Farzad Varahramyan, Emmanuel Valdez, Rick Olaffson, and Paul O’Connor, all past founding members of High Moon Studios, have teamed up to create Appy Entertainment, a new iPhone gaming company. Along with Executive Producer Steve Sargent and Lead Programmer Marc-Antoine Argenton, the Appy team’s resume includes games such as Ready 2 Rumble, the Oddworld series, and The Bourne Conspiracy. The company has yet to announce its first game, but encourages interested parties to visit its blog.

Monsoon Multimedia has announced its HAVA Player for the iPhone. The HAVA Player will allow users to view and control their home television and services directly from the device, using an on-screen remote and place-shifting technology. In addition, the company has added the ability for users to export their HAVA DVR recordings to iTunes to take recorded content with them. Monsoon’s export to iTunes feature will be available as a free direct download in Q1, while the HAVA Player for iPhone will also be free and is expected to be available in Q2 of 2009.

Billboard is reporting that fans of the Flight of the Conchords will be able to download music from each episode of their HBO show’s second season on iTunes. Unlike the first season, which saw its music released as an album well after the season ended, users will be able to download the new tracks directly from iTunes the day after each episode airs. The band’s debut EP won a Grammy for best comedy album; their self-titled full-length effort, which featured music from the show’s first season, is currently up for a Grammy in the same category.

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