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Apple passes the 2 billion download mark with App Store

by Chris Ziegler posted Sep 28th 2009 @ 11:55PM

Surprise, surprise -- the App Store's reached yet another wild milestone, hitting a whopping two billion downloads since its inception a little over a year ago. It took a little under three months to get from one billion to 1.5 billion downloads and a hair over two months to get from 1.5 to two, so the pace is accelerating just a bit -- a function both of total iPhones / iPod touches in circulation and of the ever-increasing size of the App Store's catalog, which now stands at over 85,000. The most interesting stat here might be the fact that there are actually more than 125,000 developers enrolled in Apple's iPhone dev program, meaning there are at least 40,000 devs out there who need to feel the crack of the whip (or, like some of us, just want access to beta firmware).

Apple's App Store crosses the 1.5 billion download mark

by Laura June posted Jul 14th 2009 @ 9:54AM

Yes, it seems like only yesterday (or about 3 months ago) that Apple crossed a landmark -- 1 billion apps downloaded from its App Store -- and here we are again. Apple's just issued a press release stating that it's now seen another half a billion apps downloaded in about three months -- putting them over the 1.5 billion mark. Apple doesn't get all the kudos to themselves, though: after all, someone's been downloading The Moron Test. A lot.

Close to 700,000 Palm Pre apps downloaded to date

by Donald Melanson posted Jun 20th 2009 @ 5:21AM

There may not be a ton of Pre apps available just yet, but it looks like there's enough to accumulate an impressive 666,511 downloads as of June 17th, which likely means that we're close to or past the 700,000 mark by now. As you can see above in graph form courtesy of Medialets, things have been rising steadily as more and more apps became available, and there's no noticeable sign of a drop-off even as apps remained around the 30 mark after the end of the first week. Of course, it's obviously still a little early to draw any firm conclusions, and there's no telling how things could shake out once the long-awaited PreFart and PreBeer apps make their debut.

[Via Mobile-review]

Nokia's Ovi Store said to be launching with 20,000 'items,' unknown number of apps

by Tim Stevens posted May 8th 2009 @ 8:38AM

The launch of the Ovi Store is just around the bend and, according to reports, Nokia is looking to blow this things out a little better than Google, which launched its Android Market with a paltry 50 selections. Nokia is said to have over 20,000 "items" ready for download when things go live, a number that compares quite favorably to the 40,000 apps Apple currently offers through its App Store. However, what remains to be seen is exactly what an "item" is defined as. We're sure that count includes custom apps and WidSets, and there's talk about N-Gage games finding inclusion as well. However, video and music downloads seem to be counted as well, and we'd guess ringtones too. So, how many actual applications will it have at launch? That remains to be seen.

Apple's App Store hits a billion downloads

by Chris Ziegler posted Apr 23rd 2009 @ 5:06PM

Here's to another billion -- and not just from the App Store. Windows Mobile, Symbian, Android, webOS, BlackBerry -- we're expecting every bit as much out of you guys, so let the games (and the productivity apps, utilities, flatulence simulators...) begin.

Smartphone videogame market explodes in 2008; dumbphone market wounded, but struggling on

by Tim Stevens posted Feb 2nd 2009 @ 3:32AM

With the economy lodged so firmly in the toilet we're always glad to see some sort of good news on that front, so check out the latest numbers from comScore that show the market for downloadable time-wasters on smartphones grew by a massive 291 percent in the period between November of 2007 and 2008. That's thanks in large part to the iPhone and its App Store, with sales on that platform alone accounting for 14 percent of all mobile game downloads and nearly one third of all iPhone users reporting they'd downloaded at least one game. That compares quite favorably to non-smartphone users, of whom just 3.8 percent have downloaded a game, driving that market to decline by 14 percent since 2007. Overall the mobile gaming industry bucked recessionary trends, grew a healthy 17 percent, and will now be shopping in the husky clothing section.

[Via PHONE Magazine]

Vodafone Music brings tune shopping to your handset

by Darren Murph posted Aug 12th 2008 @ 6:48AM

When one music store on your handset just isn't enough, there's Vodafone. Evidently not at all content with just the Omnifone-provided unlimited service, the carrier has just revealed a more traditional outlet for buying music on one's phone. Vodafone Music comes pre-installed on Vodafone live! handsets and can be installed on a plethora of others. Put simply, the application enables users to search for songs right on their mobile and purchase them for playback -- nothing too complicated about that, right? Hit up the read link to see if your current cellie is compatible.

[Via UnwiredView]

Apple looks to OTA downloads for 3G iPhone, record labels look for cash

by Joshua Topolsky posted May 19th 2008 @ 1:41PM

According to a churning rumor-mill, Apple desperately wants to make over-the-air downloads of iTunes content a reality on the 3G iPhone. Apparently, a record label executive "familiar with the discussions" states that the Cupertino gang is hoping for a "big launch in June" which includes OTA music downloads, ringtone sales, and ringback tones (the substitute music you hear instead of a ring when calling someone). There's only one problem: the labels want a higher premium for those services than a typical MP3 download. Of course, Apple's iTunes pricing has been a point of contention for some time, though its recent rule-bending for HBO could lead to upped charges for the new services. Something tells us Apple has the tenacity and bullheadedness to make this work -- let's just hope they can temper the labels' greed with the end user's economic realities.

[Via AppleInsider]

iPhone SDK downloads exceed 100,000, upcoming games get outed

by Darren Murph posted Mar 12th 2008 @ 9:28AM

Just four days after Apple announced that the beta version of the iPhone SDK would be available to developers, some 100,000 downloads have taken place. 'Course, it's not like we're shocked by Cupertino's latest horn tooting, but we've all ideas that number pales in comparison to the amount of requests for unlocks. Nevertheless, the real news from the Apple camp is that companies such as Namco and PopCap are apparently on board to bring titles such as Pac-man, Galaga, Bejeweled, Zuma and Peggle to the iPod touch / iPhone via App Store. Furthermore, Six Apart's CEO admitted that it's already developing a "native iPhone application for TypePad," and the VP of THQ Wireless implied that we'd be seeing some of its wares surface here as well. As for release dates? Your guess is as good as ours.

Verizon Wireless to end music download fee

by Darren Murph posted Aug 1st 2006 @ 2:38PM

Now that the LG Chocolate has finally launched, Verizon has apparently figured out that charging $15/month for the privilege of visiting the V CAST Music store is probably not such a bright idea. In what appears to be an intentional simultaneous release with the Chocolate phone, V CAST Music is now free to browse -- sure to delight 2-inch-window shoppers everywhere. The monthly fee previously required to access the V CAST VPak, which allowed you to shop for tunes on your mobile, has been nixed. Now anyone with a "V CAST Music-enabled" device can download tracks to their cellphone at the current rate of $1.99/song (or $0.99 if downloaded to a Windows XP-based PC). The $1.99 downloads contain two songs: one for the phone and one for the PC, but songs downloaded directly to the PC can be transferred to the mobile free of charge (Verizon, making things easy?). While it might seem a tad ridiculous that such a fee was charged in the past, at least Verizon is headed in the right direction here, and who wouldn't be excited about having to "only" pay $1.99 for a single?

[Via Mobiledia]

U.K.'s 3 helped Gnarls Barkley's "Crazy" top the charts

by Evan Blass posted Apr 5th 2006 @ 5:19PM

In a completely shocking and unprecedented move, a corporate entity is trying to latch on to the latest "big thing" by taking partial credit for the phenomenon's success, which in this case is the first song to top the U.K. singles charts without ever having been sold in stores. Wireless carrier 3 is claiming that its network was responsible for up to 20% of the total downloads of "Crazy," the first single by Danger Mouse and Cee-Lo collaborative Gnarls Barkley (no relation to the Round Mound of Rebound), which sold 31,000 digital copies and 0 CDs in the week ending April 2nd. 3 offers songs for 99 pence apiece and also allows a copy of the track to be downloaded to a user's PC, which would seem to make it a strong competitor in not only the mobile arena but the traditional online music market as well.