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Apple's App Store has been a rousing success, given the nearly 100,000 apps. Yet it's also been a headache for developers, and many iPhone users also complain about it. In my opinion, its function is changing. Whereas initially it was a way for consumers to find apps and for developers to get noticed, that function is not scalable. After all, how can you possibly shoehorn 100,000 apps into 20 categories? In my opinion, the App Store is simply a mechanism for buying apps, like a shopping cart. Consumers need to find other ways to locate useful apps, and developers can no longer pin their hopes on making the top 10 or top 100 in a category.
Now unless you have been living under a rock, or you are a rock, in which you are fully excuse from knowing about this game changer. Google is now providing turn by turn navigation on enabled mobile devices for free. That means any smart phone that has GPS and Interwebs connection will most likely be able to use this… except the Iphone. Apple makes a pretty penny for those REALLY expensive Nav apps out there and AT&T is trying to sell a monthly service for their app. I saw this video last night (at the end of this post) and its a game changer not only because its free, but because it uses what Google is very good
Better yet, how to make traveling fun for yourself! I found Travel Games Ultimate Edition very fun, and I’m over 18 (just a little). The app features five games: Rock, Paper, Scissors; Slug Bug; License Plates; Find it! Pictures; and Scavenger Hunt.
The big news today is the announcement of the Droid, a new smartphone from Motorola and Verizon that uses Google's Android software. As Todd posted yesterday, the iPhone market share is surging ahead. But the Android market really seems to be heating up too. A press release out today from Wirefly says that five of the top 10 most-anticpated smartphones right now are Android phones, with the Droid leading the list. And clearly these devices are going to push the envelope.
Sorry but I haven’t posted lately as I’ve been preparing my materials for tenure review here at West Chester University of PA. But, after attending a recent conference hosted by the Association for Technology in Music Instruction (atmionline.org) I have some great new apps to share with you. I’ll roll them out over the next few weeks. Here’s the first.
I’m not really quite sure who the target audience for this game is. With the whole “three little pigs” motif you’d almost think it was a kid’s game, but the atmosphere seems a bit violent. When you shoot the wolves with an arrow they bleed, and in the intro cartoon the pig comes off as kind of a gruff, mean protector. Not to mention the fact that this game gets tough rather quickly. That being said, it is a somewhat amusing game that will definitely keep you challenged. Did I mention it was tough?
A new report shows Apple's marketshare of the smartphone market continues to grow, at the expense of the entrenched suppliers. The iPhone now accounts for 30%, up from 25% and trails market leader RIM (BlackBerry) by ten points, as RIM slipped one percent to 40%. Considering that BlackBerry includes a variety of platforms, touchscreen and non-touchscreen, and that Apple's iPod touch sales aren't included, it's clear that the iPhone platform is on its way to becoming the dominant platform for smart devices.
The iPhone operating system has never allowed for listing more than 9 (SpringBoard) pages of 16 applications each, which has severely restricted the number of applications you can install on a phone. (Actually, the number of third-party apps you can display is even less as the built-in applications take up one tab – around 14-16 icons.)
The problem was slightly cured by the introduction of OS 3 this June. It allowed for both slightly more (11) SpringBoard pages so that you could see a bit more applications. However, additional programs you synchronized did not show up – even when they are there on your phone.
Fortunately, there are several solutions for the problem.
1.
Want to thank everyone for the great support and comments in our recent giveaway of AT&T Navigator software. Want to especially thank Telenav for sponsoring it. The winners are listed below along with instructions on claiming complimentary subscription services. I wish everyone could have won, but if you didn't this time, remember to please tune into our blogs regularly for more great contests in the future. WInners: wazzucoug jediteej misterlab
We all want voice recognition. What could make things simpler? You just ask your iPhone to call one of your hundreds of contacts, and it does so. No searching, no flipping through the list. That's the promise. The reality is, of course, a bit short of that. Still, there are a number of applications that are trying to make this a reality. Vocalia is among them, and it claims to be the only 100% hands-free speech recognition app for the iPhone that enables speech access to your address book, iTunes library, and Safari bookmarks. Some users, seemingly the more savvy ones, find that it works really well.
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