App Giveaway: GoodReader for iPhone and iPad

GoodReader is a family of iPhone and iPad apps for editing an managing PDF files. You can add annotations, including freehand drawings, and manage, transfer, and sync your files.

GoodReader® is the super-robust highly-rated PDF reader with advanced reading and annotating capabilities.

ANNOTATE! Annotation is a feature long sought after by users who want to add their own mark-ups to PDFs, especially those collaborating as a team on shared documents. The types of annotations that can be created and edited in GoodReader include typewriter text boxes, popup comments (“sticky notes”), text highlights, freehand drawings, lines, arrows, rectangles, ovals, cloudy shapes, text underlines, strikeouts, text insertion marks.

REFLOW PDF TEXT! With the PDF Reflow feature, reading your documents is a pleasure because it extracts pure text from PDF files and automatically wraps words. This amazing feature fits all of the text to your screen perfectly. That means you never have to scroll left and right to read the text. For a better idea of how on-the-fly reflow works, sneak a peek at the Reflow screenshot down below.

MANAGE FILES! GoodReader lets you create folders, move, copy and rename your files; zip, email and unzip them; plus send your files to other apps.

TRANSFER FILES! Within moments of downloading GoodReader, you’ll be transferring files in a number of ways: directly from your computer over a USB cable or WiFi connection, from the Internet or from email attachments. It also easily integrates with iDisk, Google Docs, Dropbox, SugarSync, box.net and other WebDAV, AFP, FTP and SFTP servers.

SYNC YOUR FILES AND FOLDERS! The amazing Auto Sync feature will work with MobileMe iDisk, Dropbox, SugarSync, box.net, and any other WebDAV, AFP, FTP or SFTP server.

Giveaway

The good folks at Good.iWare Ltd. have given us promo codes to give away to 10 lucky winners. For a chance to win, just leave a comment below letting us know which device you would like to use GoodReader on – iPhone or iPad (or both!). We have 5 codes for each!

• $4.99 for iPhone – App Store link
• $4.99 for iPad – App Store link

Have an app you’d love to see featured on iMore? Email us at iosapps@imore.com, tell us about your app (include an iTunes link), and we’ll take a look.

Detailed Video of How iOS Multitasking Works

Couple of days back Fraser Speirs developer at Connected Flow and Head of Computing and IT at Cedars School of Excellence had written an excellent article to clear the misconceptions about iOS multitasking, where experts and users believe that removing … Continue reading →

Mini Apple Store coming to a Target near you

AppleInsider reports that Apple will be bringing mini “store-within-a-store” setups to 25 different Target locations around the country.

The initial opening would be a small start, given that Target, the second-largest discount retail chain in the US, operates 1752 stores in the US. Apple has opened 359 of its own retail stores globally, 245 of which are in the US.

Apple is likely just testing the waters with Target, which should ultimately help expand their reach in the retail space. Apple already does this at the largest electronics retail outlet, Best Buy, with around 600 mini “Apple Shops” that have been met with great success.

Apple will presumably focus on iOS devices at first — iPhone, iPad, Apple TV and iPod touch — as well as their standalone music players like the iPod Classic and iPod Nano.

Source: AppleInsider

Reminder: You really don’t need to manually manage apps for iPhone or iPad

About a year ago I wrote a post explaining why you don’t have to kill multitasking apps in iOS. iOS 4 had been introduced, bringing multitasking to iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad, and because Apple added the ability to jiggle and close them in the fast app switcher, some users decided to do just that. All. The. Time.

We’re on to iOS 5 now, we have some new players like Newsstand in the multitasking equation, and apparently the community is just as deeply divided as ever on the issue, even developers, even Apple Geniuses. So Frasier Speirs has put together a post of his own on the subject of iOS multitasking misconceptions, and while he ultimately proffers the same thesis as yours truly — you really don’t need to manually manage apps in iOS — he goes into far more detail about the whys and wherefores.

Regardless of how you feel, whether you think you should leave absolutely all task killing safely to Apple, whether you think you should purge every app, every time, or whether you’re still on the fence, take a read of Speirs’ article and give it some consideration.

Source: speirs.org

iPhone & iPad Live 187: 2011 year in review

The last TiPb podcast ever! (Because we just changed to iMore!) Rene, Georgia, and Seth talk 2011 in devices, features, news, apps, and accessories! This is iPhone and iPad Live!

• Subscribe via iTunes: Audio | Video
• Subscribe via RSS: Audio | Video
• Download directly: Audio | Video

Year in Review

• Editors choice awards
• Readers choice awards

News

• Rumor: Apple January event to focus on iTunes University and Apple in education
• iPad passport scan enough to get photopgrapher into the U.S. from Canada
• Bizarre GameStore app, purportedly by Apple, appears in App Store
• iPad apps now running in full screen mode on the Apple TV with developer port
• Samsung’s new ad looks just like an Apple ad, uses one of the same actors too
• Samsung Ace a blast from iPhone 3G, iPhone 3GS past?

Tips

• Weekly Mod: How to replace a battery in an iPhone 3G, iPhone 3GS

Hosts

• Rene Ritchie (@reneritchie)
• Georgia (@GeorgiaTiPb)
• Seth Clifford (@sethclifford)

Credits

You can reach all of us on Twitter @TiPb, or you can email us at pd@tib.o, or leave a comment on the website when the show goes live.

We’re here every Wednesday night at 6pm Pacific, 9pm Eastern, 2am GMT at www.TiPb.com/live

For all our podcasts — audio and video — including iPhone and iPad Live, ZENandTECH and Superfunctional, Iterate and Girls Gone Gadgets and more… see MobileNations.com/shows

If you haven’t already please subscribe to all our shows in iTunes and leave a rating. It helps people find the show and means a lot to us!

Thanks to the TiPb iPhone Accessory Store for sponsoring the podcast, and to everyone who showed up for the live chat!

Study Reveals Top 1% of Mobile Users Consume Half of All Mobile Data Traffic

Mobile Data Analytics firm Arieso’s newly released reports offers interesting insights into the distribution of mobile data consumption across mobile users. Its most important revelation: The top 1 percent of mobile users account for half of the traffic generated on mobile networks and that … Continue reading →

TUAW Best of 2011 wrap-up and editor picks

It's January 6th, 2012, and today marks the end of the TUAW Best of 2011 awards. This was a massive undertaking, with 25 separate categories all requiring their own nominations and voting from our readers. We've learned some lessons for next year's event -- start earlier, watch for astroturfing in the nominations, drop some unpopular categories -- and the Best of 2012 will be even better.

The editorial staff here at TUAW agreed with many of the reader picks, but we had our own opinions on some others. We want to thank all of the thousands of TUAW readers who took time to consider their favorite accessories and apps, nominate them for an award, and then vote in the competition.

Without further ado, here's the full list of winners as well as our picks for the TUAW Best of 2011:

Mac Categories in the TUAW Best of 2011

Best Mac Hardware from Apple: 13" MacBook Air
Editor picks: 13" and 11" MacBook Air, 13" MacBook Pro

Best Mac Peripheral or Accessory: OWC Data Doubler and OWC Mercury 6G SSD
Editor picks: Magic Trackpad, OWC Mercury Extreme Pro SSD

Best Mac Utility App: Alfred
Editor picks: Growl, 1Password, Grand Perspective

Best Mac Productivity App: Evernote
Editor picks: OmniFocus, Scrivener, Evernote

Best Mac Game App: Machinarium
Editor picks: Civilization V, Full Deck Solitaire

Best Mac Music App: Reaper
Editor picks: Simplify, Rdio, djay, Capo, GarageBand, iTunes

Best Mac Photo App: Flare
Editor picks: Pixelmator, Aperture, Adobe PhotoShop, FotoMagico

Best Mac Video App: Final Cut Pro X
Editor picks: Wirecast, Video Monkey

iPhone Categories in the TUAW Best of 2011

Best iPhone Accessory: Apple TV (2nd Generation)
Editor picks: Mophie Juice Pack Air, Mophie Juice Pack Powerstation, iChair

Best iPhone Game App: Jetpack Joyride
Editor picks: iMAME, Infinity Blade 2, Mage Gauntlet, Dungeon Raid, Jetpack Joyride

Best iPhone Photo App: 360 Panorama
Editor picks: Camera+, Instagram

Best iPhone Video App: iMovie
Editor picks: FiLMiC Pro, Reeli

Best iPhone Social Networking App: Tweetbot
Editor picks: Tweetbot, Instagram, Twitter

Best iPhone Productivity App: Dropbox
Editor picks: Siri, CardMunch, CalenGoo, OmniFocus, Mint, 2Do, Reminders

Best iPhone Utility App: 1Password Pro
Editor picks: LastPass, Groceries, Grocery IQ, Find My Friends, 1Password Pro, TripIt

Best iPhone Navigation App: Navigon
Editor picks: Navigon, Waze, MotionX GPS Drive

Best iPhone Music App: Spotify
Editor picks: Guitar Toolkit, Radio Paradise, Pandora, Shoutcast, Rdio

iPad Categories in the TUAW Best of 2011

Best iPad Case: DODOcase
Editor picks: Apple Smart Cover, AViiQ Smart Case,Twelve South BookBook, ModulR System, OtterBox Defender

Best iPad Accessory: BubCap
Editor picks: Apple TV, iCade, Mophie Juice Pack Powerstation

Best iPad Game App: Osmos for iPad
Editor picks: Battleship, Anomaly Warzone Earth HD, Jetpack Joyride, Sword & Sworcery, Scribblenauts Redux

Best iPad Photography App: flickr hd
Editor picks: iStopMotion for iPad, Photogene, PhotoSync, Snapseed, iMovie

Best iPad Social Networking App: Skype for iPad
Editor picks: Twitter, FaceTime, Skype, Zite

Best iPad Productivity App: OmniFocus for iPad
Editor picks: OmniFocus for iPad, 2Do, Pages, Pocket Informant HD, Evernote

Best iPad Utility App: 1Password Pro
Editor picks: AirPort Utility, Skitch, Air Display, Codea

Best iPad Music App: GarageBand
Editor picks: Planetary, 5-0 Radio HD

TUAW Best of 2011 wrap-up and editor picks originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Fri, 06 Jan 2012 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

TUAW Best of 2011 wrap-up and editor picks originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Fri, 06 Jan 2012 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Forums: Remove Jailbreak, Enabling restrictions on iPad 2

As we noted earlier, next week is all about CES 2012 and we’ll be there gathering the best content we can find for you all. It’s sure to be a great time so make sure you follow along here on the blogs and especially in the forums. The forums are a great spot to discuss all things Apple in a better way then what the comments section can offer and we’ve got a spot just for you, you can register now to get started today and check out some of the threads below, today:

• iPhone 4S Forum: What job do you have, that you use your iPhone 4S?
• iPhone 4 Forum: Excessive data usage, any help is appreciated
• iCloud Forum Unable to restore app data after reinstalling app
• iPad 2 Forum Can you lock out certain apps?
• Jailbreak and Unlock Forum How do I remove my Jailbreak?

If you’re not already a member of the TiPb Forums, register now!

ZENandTECH 29: Tips and tech for travelers

Georgia, Rene, and special guest Phil Nickinson of Android Central talk tech for business travelers. Whether you’re a road warrior or frequent flyer, a little planning and a lot of good apps and accessories can make your trips less stressful and far more successful. This is ZENandTECH!

• Our podcast feed: Audio | Video
• Download Directly: Audio | Video
• Subscribe via iTunes: Audio | Video

Hosts

• @GeorgiaTiPb (Georgia)
• @reneritchie (Rene)

Contact

You can reach all of us @ZENandTECH, via email at podcast@zenandtech.tv, or leave a comment below!

Thanks everyone, you’re the best community on the web and we love having you with us!

Disclaimer

While Georgia is a therapist, she’s not YOUR therapist. Everything said or implied on this show is for informational and entertainment purposes only. And shouldn’t be taken in any way as a replacement for proper, professional care.

Credits

Music is Peace on Earth by wellman.

Daily Apps: Zepi:Classic HD, Diet Cakes Weight Loss, AppStart, Onibi, Super Crate Box

Zepi:Classic HD: Do you want to prove that your fingers are the fastest in the world and your reflexes are the quickest in the universe? Welcome to try out Zepi – a fun exciting brain game for players of any age.

• $0.99 for iPad – App Store link

Diet Cakes Weight Loss: Rather than a boring book that you might flick through and never look at again, Diet Cakes gives you the pleasure of clearing an entire tray of cakes or donuts or ice-cream cones and getting benefit from it. Inside each cake, donut, and ice-cream cone is a Diet Cake Motivational Cookie – these 36 fortune-style type cookies contain ideas and questions designed to inspire your weight loss.

• $1.99 for iPhone and iPad – App Store link

AppStart: A fun, interactive magazine about your iPhone & apps! And it’s oh so pretty!

• Free for iPhone – App Store link

Onibi: A kinetic puzzler where the player is a forest spirit who must wind paths that awaken the other voices of the forest. Keep your flow and other spirits will follow you. The result is a symphony of motion and sound that is different every time.

• $1.99 for iPhone and iPad – App Store link

Super Crate Box:

• $0.99 for iPhone and iPad – App Store link

Any other big app or game releases or updates today?

Have an app you’d love to see featured on iMore? Email us at iosapps@imore.com, tell us about your app (include an iTunes link), and we’ll take a look.

Find My Car Smarter uses Bluetooth Smart to locate your car

One time, I spent hours wandering the parking lot after a concert. I really wish I had marked the location of my car and not relied on my memory to navigate. Next time I find myself in that situation, I'm going to use Find My Car Smarter. It's a Kickstarter project from FMC Smart which automatically marks your location every time you park your car.

The system uses a low-power Bluetooth Smart device (shown below), an iOS app and a Bluetooth 4.0 compatible phone like the iPhone 4S. The Bluetooth Smart device is a small USB dongle that fits in a standard car charger. It plugs into your car's 12V accessory charging port and stays there. The iOS app, Find My Car Smarter, connects to the Bluetooth Smart device and runs in the background. The app stays connected to the dongle until you power down the device by turning off your car. If your car doesn't power down the accessory port, then the app will disconnect when you walk away and get outside the dongle's 10-foot range.

It's this disconnection that triggers the app to mark your location. This all happens in the background automatically. You don't have to open the app or remove the Bluetooth device. You just stop your car and walk away knowing that your location has been pinned. If you're away on vacation and don't need your car, you can turn off these background processes. This stops the app from automatically saving your car's location, so you'll have to remember to turn it back on when you get home.

When you're ready to return home, just fire up the app, and it'll show both your current location and your car's location on a map. The app calculates how far away you are from your car, and how long its been parked in that place. It'll even use your phone's compass to help you walk in the right direction.

I tested out the system for a few weeks, and I highly recommend it to anyone who regularly parks in a large parking lot. It's so convenient. You only have to set it up once and then you can forget about it. In practice, I found it to be accurate within 10-20 feet. The app brought me close enough to my car that I could easily find it with a quick scan.

The system is easy to use, accurate and reasonably priced. I also like the fact that it uses cutting edge technology like Bluetooth Smart. The only drawback I found was the size of the Bluetooth Smart dongle. It's so small that it's very easy to lose. If you keep stored in a USB car charger, you'll do ok, but if you carry it around loose in your bag, there's a good chance you will lose it.

The Find My Car Smarter system is available as a Kickstarter project. It's reached its funding goal, and the first round of devices shipped this week. When the Kickstarter part of the project ends next week, the devices will be available for purchase from the company's website. The basic package includes a Bluetooth Smart dongle and the iOS app for US$25. For an extra $5, you can add in a USB car charger if you don't already have one.

Find My Car Smarter uses Bluetooth Smart to locate your car originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Fri, 06 Jan 2012 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Find My Car Smarter uses Bluetooth Smart to locate your car originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Fri, 06 Jan 2012 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Thanks to Warner Brothers, we’ll have to wait twice as long for Netflix movies…

AllThingsD reports that Netflix (and Blockbuster) will be required to wait twice as long, or a full 56 days after DVDs hit retail shelves, before offering Warner Brothers content under a new distribution agreement.

The move is part of Hollywood’s ongoing campaign to bolster flagging DVD sales, and sources tell me the new deal is supposed to be announced at next week’s Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. Warner Brothers executives have already talked publicly about extending the current window.

Redbox was also included in the initial report, however their parent company Coinstar has made a statement indicating they haven’t yet entered into a new contract with Warner Brothers. They are, however, set to renegotiate their contract at the end of January, but have publicly stated they’d look for “workarounds” if studios attempt to double the time window.

While studios may think this type of dumbassery forces people to buy more DVDs, it only forces them to hate the circumvent the customer-hostile studios. Hollywood is once again on the wrong side of history and common sense. Rapid availability and fair pricing is what boosts sales. iTunes taught that to music studios ravaged by Napster and the like a decade ago. Steve Jobs told them at the time their competition was free-as-in-file-sharing. Is Hollywood really this intent on making the recording labels seem like geniuses by comparison?

Here’s once again hoping the old-guard gets replaced soon.

Source: All Things Digital

China Unicom offers free iPhone 4S on contract

Want a free iPhone 4S? If you're a customer of China Unicom, you're in luck -- the company announced today (one week from the first day of iPhone 4S availability in China and 21 other countries) that they'll give users a free iPhone 4S for signing a multiyear service contract.

It gets better. The promotion offers the 32 GB iPhone 4S on a three-year contract for as little as 286 yuan (about US$45) per month, or customers can commit for only two years and get the 16 GB model for 386 yuan per month.

Several industry analysts think that the subsidy, which is designed to attract high-end subscribers who will also buy up expensive data plans, is a bad idea for China Unicom. Hong Kong-based analyst Steven Liu of Standard Chartered Bank noted in a Bloomberg article that "After subsidizing the iPhone, the operator will have less money for subsidizing other smartphone users that could be more profitable."

China Unicom's costs for 3G phone subsidies and related marketing expenses were nearly 6 billion yuan in the first half of 2011, almost four times the same period in 2010. The popular iPhone handsets are sure to hit the carrier's subsidy costs even more, but customers don't appear to want to purchase lower priced and less capable smartphones.

China Unicom offers free iPhone 4S on contract originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Fri, 06 Jan 2012 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

China Unicom offers free iPhone 4S on contract originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Fri, 06 Jan 2012 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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iMore coverage of CES 2012 goes live in Las Vegas all next week!

iMore is heading over to the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas next week, likely to look at more iPhone and iPad accessories — and the occasional app — than any group of humans ought ever look at a single place and time. We’ll be bring the very best to you in video and post form, so if there’s something you want to see, something you want to show off, or if you just want to say hello, let us know!

You can follow all the action via iMore.com/tag/ces2012.

Team iMore will be represented by yours truly, Rene Ritchie (@reneritchie), Leanna Lofte (@llofte), and Ally Khazmuch (@imuggle). We’ll also have the full Mobile Nations crew with us, including Phil Nickinson (@philnickinson) and the Android Central army, Kevin Michaluk (@crackberrykevin) and the CrackBerry.com crew, Derek Kessler (@dkdsgn) and webOS Nation, and Daniel Rubino (@malatesta77) and the WPCentral.com clique, as well as cross-site collaborator jared DiPane (@jdipane) and our brand new editor-at-very-large, Simon Sage (@simonsage).

Keep your browsers locked on iMore and Mobile Nations for all the news, and follow us crazy kids for the behind the scenes shenanigans. (There tends to be lots f both!)

Sprint says no to throttling, still offering “true” unlimited data

After Dow Jones misconstrued some comments by Sprint CEO Dan Hesse, Sprint has come out with an official statement saying they do not throttle regular subscribers under their unlimited data plans.

Reports that Sprint throttles the top one percent of data users are false. Here are the facts:

• Sprint does not throttle any postpaid phone data users for on-network or off-network usage. Sprint is the only national carrier offering smartphone users truly unlimited data with no throttling, metering or overages while on the Sprint network.

• Sprint does have terms and conditions which prohibit certain types of data use that may impair other customers’ usage or harm or interfere with the network. At yesterday’s investor conference, Sprint CEO Dan Hesse was referring to Sprint’s right to terminate service of data abusers who violate Sprint’s terms and conditions. Customers who abuse our network by violating the terms and conditions will be contacted by Sprint in an effort to have the customer change their usage to comply with their subscriber agreement. Customers who do not change their usage and remain in violation of the terms and conditions may be subject to actions reserved by Sprint, including but not limited to termination. Consistent with our advertising, engaging in such uses will not result in throttling for customers on unlimited data-included plans for phones.

So, there you have it. Sprint doesn’t throttle regular paying subscribers under their unlimited plan, including those with the iPhone 4 and iPhone 4S. They do, however, throttle the top 1 percent of heavy data users under their roaming agreements with carrier partners (such as Verizon).

Source: Sprint

iPhone 4S owners use almost twice as much data as iPhone 4 users

A new study by telecom network tech firm Arieso shows that owners of Apple's new iPhone 4S are using almost twice as much data with their devices than iPhone 4 users, and almost three times as much as iPhone 3G users.

The report, covered by Reuters, shows that the primary driver of the data usage is the Siri intelligent assistant. iPhone 4S users are even consuming more data than iPad 2 users, who are probably more tied to Wi-Fi networks for their consumption of a steady diet of web pages, email, and media.

Arieso's CTO, Michael Flanagan, noted that "I use the iPhone 4 myself and when I first heard of the iPhone 4S features I was not compelled to rush out and get one. However, the data usage numbers I am seeing make me wonder what I am missing."

Since Apple's introduction of the original iPhone in 2007, the usage of mobile data has roughly doubled each year. Cloud-based services like Siri are widely expected to boost growth of data usage, which will be an issue until more efficient and speedy LTE networks become more widespread worldwide.

At this time, Siri is still in beta and has limited functionality outside of the U.S. That's expected to change in 2012, as AppleInsider reports that Apple is hiring software engineers to help with porting Siri to other languages and to work on an API that will expand the natural-language interaction to other applications.

iPhone 4S owners use almost twice as much data as iPhone 4 users originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Fri, 06 Jan 2012 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

iPhone 4S owners use almost twice as much data as iPhone 4 users originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Fri, 06 Jan 2012 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Reports suggest 4th quarter iPhone sales very good

iPhone sales are almost always good, and when Apple reports 1st quarter sales on January 24th, all the signs point to some really excellent numbers.

Earlier this week, Verizon CFO Fran Shammo reported 4.2 million iPhone sales, which doubled the company's 3rd quarter numbers. Some analysts estimate AT&T sold about 7 million iPhones, while estimates for Sprint are over 2 million phones. That's more than 13 million phones in the US alone, and of course the iPhone is selling in much of Europe and Asia.

There are probably several factors contributing to robust sales. Extremely high customer satisfaction makes current owners evangelists for Apple products. The iPhone 4S with Siri created a lot of positive buzz, and there were very low prices on the older iPhone 3Gs.

All these projections are higher than those of the previous quarter and the numbers from 2010. Of course they are only projections, and we'll know for sure when Apple lifts the curtain on the real numbers later this month.

[via All Things Digital]

Reports suggest 4th quarter iPhone sales very good originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Fri, 06 Jan 2012 14:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Reports suggest 4th quarter iPhone sales very good originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Fri, 06 Jan 2012 14:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Mac App Store Turns One Year Old, Aspyr Shares Numbers

Today marks the one-year anniversary of the launch of the Mac App Store, Apple's attempt to remake software distribution by offering an easy-to-use digital download store for Mac apps linked to the company's existing iTunes Store infrastructure.

The Mac App Store gained prominence throughout the year as Apple added more and more of its own software to the marketplace, even opting to use the Mac App Store as the primary method of distribution for OS X Lion. Less than a year after the store's launch, Apple announced that the Mac App Store had seen over 100 million downloads, not including purchases of OS X Lion, app updates, or multiple downloads from a single transaction.

In an effort to assess the impact of the Mac App Store on established Mac software companies, we chatted with Aspyr, which offers over a dozen games through the store including the current top-grossing game and Mac App Store Game of the Year Civilization V: Campaign Edition [Mac App Store]. Other major titles from Aspyr include Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, Call of Duty 4, and DOOM 3.

Aspyr is in a relatively unique position among Mac App Store developers in that it already offered a significant digital distribution platform of its own through its GameAgent marketplace. But the Mac App Store has still been able to attract a significant amount of business from Aspyr customers, with Aspyr telling us that the Mac App Store accounted for sales of roughly 500,000 units across all of Aspyr's titles in 2011, representing 50-60% of the company's digital distribution business.


In particular, Aspyr credits the Mac App Store with breathing new life into older titles, bringing them to the attention of more casual gamers who would not have otherwise sought out the games. Unsurprisingly, games that receive featured treatment from Apple in the form of banners and other promotional mentions are the strongest performers for Aspyr.

Even beyond the Mac App Store, Aspyr cites general growth of the Mac platform as another driver of increased software sales. The Mac has seen steady momentum in outpacing overall PC market growth every quarter for nearly six years, most recently setting a new high with 12.9% of the market in the third quarter of 2011.

Overall, the Mac App Store remains heavily skewed toward Apple's own software, with the top six most popular apps and the eight highest-grossing apps in the store being Apple software. But given the volume of downloads on the store, a number of other developers are clearly seeing success with the store as it is proving popular with Mac users looking for ease of purchase and installation. According to our sister site AppShopper, there are currently over 8,900 apps available in the Mac App Store, making for a substantial library of content easily found and downloaded through the marketplace.


Recent Mac and iOS Blog Stories
• Study Finds Wireless Data Consumption of iPhone 4S Doubled from iPhone 4
• CloudOn Returns Cloud-Hosted Office for iPad to App Store
• Foxconn Profit Margin Remains Tight As Apple Flourishes
• Infinity Blade Revenue Tops $30 Million
• Samsung Loses Motion for Preliminary Injunction Banning iPhone 4S in Italy

CloudOn App That Brings Microsoft Office Functionality to iPad For Free is Available in The App Store (Again)

CloudOn – Silicon Valley based startup that had briefly released a free app in the App Store that brought Microsoft Office functionality to the iPad, but had to voluntarily remove their app due to a surge in traffic, has released … Continue reading →

iOS 5.1 beta indicates Apple may be testing quad-core mobile CPUs

Lets get this out of the way up front -- this is not a confirmation that Apple is planning to put a quad-core A6 chip inside its next iPad or iPhone. What it does indicate is that Apple may be testing iOS support for quad-core CPUs. 9to5Mac has dug up images from the latest beta of iOS 5.1 that detail the supported number of cores. In this hidden panel, single-core A4s are referred to as "/cores/core.0" while dual-core A5s are "/cores/core.1." Now a new listing, "/cores/core.3," is popping up which, if you start counting with zero, indicates a CPU packing four cores. This doesn't mean that Apple even has this up and running on test hardware yet, though, merely that software support for quad-core chips is in the works. But, that should be enough to really kick the rumor mill into overdrive.

iOS 5.1 beta indicates Apple may be testing quad-core mobile CPUs originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 06 Jan 2012 13:36:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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