Flurry reveals prominence of gaming on iPhone

Around 19 percent of companies building iPhone applications initially came from traditional video games, according to an analysis of iPhone developer origins.

Articles Wikipedia Reader for iPhone

Articles [$2.99 - iTunes link] is a thoughtful, elegant new Wikipedia reader and discovery tool from Sophiestication Software.

Rather than just displaying the Wikipedia.com page, Articles takes the data behind the page and reformats it in a very clean, easy-to-read format with a chapter index control to briskly skim your way through to the section(s) you want to focus on. You can search for articles, find articles based on your current location, or ask Articles to surprise you.

Two of the more interesting features are Mobile Safari-style “Pages” that allow you to keep several articles open at the same time and quickly move between them, and an interesting variation on the pull-page-down-release behavior that, rather then refreshing, toggle between orientation lock and unlock (so your iPhone won’t spin content around wildly if you’re reading in bed, for example).

There’s also Mobile Safari-like bookmarks and history, and additional tips include double-tap-and-hold to display the chapter index, pinch or stretch to decrease/increase text size, tap-and-hold links to open articles in a new page.

Is it worth $2.99 when wikipedia.com (and other Wikipedia-based apps) are free? If you want more than the raw data, if you like the experience and features Articles provides, then absolutely. I read Wikipedia a lot and Articles is the way I’ll be reading it for the foreseeable future. (They had me at multiple pages).

Screen shots after the break, and if you give it a try, let us know what you think!

[via @havvac]

Articles Wikipedia Reader for iPhone is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

TiPb - The #1 iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch Blog

150,000 iPads Pre-Ordered, Which Ones are TiPb Getting?

With estimates of Apple’s first weekend of iPad pre-orders already topping 150,000 units, we thought we’d take a quick look at just which models TiPb readers — and staff — were getting. We posted our survey on Friday, just as pre-orders started and the results can be seen above. A lot of you are either not getting one or are waiting before taking the plunge. For those of you who did pre-order, the cheapest 16GB iPad Wi-Fi was most popular, followed by the most expensive 64GB iPad 3G, and then the 32GB Wi-Fi model.

As to TiPb (and SPE!) staff, here’s what we’re getting and why:

• Rene Ritchie: I went with the 16GB Wi-Fi version because I want it now and will be getting a 3G version as well so I’m keeping costs down up-front so I can splurge at the end. Yes, it’s a sickness and no I don’t want the cure!

• Dieter Bohn: The iPad is an exercise in contradictions: looks like it could be a full, multitasking computer, but acts like a giant iPhone. Could be a giant iPhone, but the big screen makes it something more. So I figured I’d embrace the contradiction and get the craziest one in the lineup: 64 gigs, WiFi only. The fact that I have several phones which act as WiFi hotspots helps, though.

• Jeremy Sikora: I ordered a 32GB iPad Wi-Fi. I blame Rene.

• Chris Vitek: I am going for the 3G because I want the option of having Internet/data connections even without wifi. The large disk size is so I can load lots of photos and media (mostly movies) and apps without worrying about running out of space. I would have preferred a larger storage size, but 64GB isn’t too bad.

• Matt Sawyers: I am going with the 3G iPad. While I expect to mostly use the iPad in WiFi areas, to know that I can get 3G away from a Wifi point if I need it. Also the fact that I will not have to pay for the service every month if I do not need it is an extra incentive! The 64GB size will be used for a large number of documents I like to have on the go & I will have a lot of my podcasts & videos on it as well.

• Mickey Papillon, The Cell Phone Junkie: I went with the 16gb iPad because I wanted to get and use the iPad to keep up with the technology, but won’t be keeping all my media on it. I determined from my 32gb iPhone that I don’t use all the space on it, and in fact, most of the space on the iPhone is being used by music. I will not be putting any music on the iPad, as I have other devices that I use for music (like the iPhone and ipod).

• Matt Miller, Nokia Experts: After much internal debate, I bought a 32GB WiFi-only version because I think it will be a great tool for my daily train commute. It may end up replacing my nook with the multiple ebook client support and it will keep me from buying this year’s new iPhone, no matter how cool it might be. I can get a great iPhone app experience on the iPad without having to sign up for an AT&T contract. I never use my iPhone 3GS as a phone so the iPad should also replace my iPhone, but my daughter will be happy to take it from me.

If you pre-ordered the iPad, tell us which one you ordered and why!

150,000 iPads Pre-Ordered, Which Ones are TiPb Getting? is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

TiPb - The #1 iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch Blog

Apple vs. Google gets personal: “Steve Jobs simply hates Eric Schmidt” (video)

Nothing sells papers (or ads) like turning a little corporate competition into something personal. Case in point, a New York Times piece from the weekend titled "Apple's Spat With Google Is Getting Personal," that opened with this rather ominous, one-sentence paragraph:

"It looked like the beginning of a beautiful friendship."

Cue the orchestra. The lengthy piece chronicling the relationship between the Silicon Valley titans was formed by two dozen interviews with industry watchers, investors, and current and former employees covering a timeline spread that began with Google and Apple working in harmony to prevent Microsoft's domination of online services and mobile devices. It ends with Apple's patent lawsuit against HTC that reeks of a proxy battle against Android and Google. According to the NYT then, the heart of the dispute is betrayal, or Jobs' belief that Schmidt (a former Apple board member) "picked his pocket" by developing cellphones that "physically, technologically and spiritually resembled the iPhone." Here's how one especially feisty encounter is described:

"At one particularly heated meeting in 2008 on Google's campus, Mr. Jobs angrily told Google executives that if they deployed a version of multitouch - the popular iPhone feature that allows users to control their devices with flicks of their fingers - he would sue. Two people briefed on the meeting described it as "fierce" and "heated.""

And that's just the beginning. Read the rest after the break.

Continue reading Apple vs. Google gets personal: "Steve Jobs simply hates Eric Schmidt" (video)

Apple vs. Google gets personal: "Steve Jobs simply hates Eric Schmidt" (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 16 Mar 2010 06:21:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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