Discovering new apps is always one of the most important and difficult things in the new smartphone ecosystem, especially as the number of total apps keeps growing and growing. The Windows Phone Marketplace is running towards 20,000 total apps, so discovery is becoming more and more important in finding quality apps that will fit into your daily usage. The full featured web store for the Marketplace is planned to launch in time for the the WP 7.1 Mango update expected early this summer. But, until then one of the best options is WP7applist, which has just released an app into the Marketplace.
WP7applist is a great tool for search and discovery in the WP Marketplace, but their website has never worked quite right in the mobile browser on Windows Phone 7 devices. Now, there is a fancy new app to help you discover new apps. The app has a Spotlight page filled with featured apps, but the real value comes from the Discovery page which allows users to sort apps into new releases, recently updated, recent price drops and apps that have become free. Each app link gives information, screenshots and reviews of apps as well as an easy link to the official Marketplace to download or purchase apps.
The app even includes a Live Tile which will allow you to keep track of the total number of apps in the Marketplace as well as the number of newly released apps and app updates over the past 24 hours.
As of right now, WP7applist is an invaluable tool for WP7 users, but it's unclear how the site will fare once the full featured web Marketplace launches. There is a good chance that the future may hold the same fate as AppBrain, which is a similar service for Android that has lost a lot of its appeal since the Android Market web store had its massive overhaul in February.
Sunday
Windows Phone Marketplace hits 19,000 apps!
It may not have the same impact as learning that the Apple App Store has hit 500,000 total apps, but the rate of growth is just as impressive for the Windows Phone Marketplace. The Marketplace crossed the 19,000 app marker today, which has more than doubled the number of apps in the Marketplace since March 1st.
In fact, as of just 5 days ago, the Marketplace hit the 18,000 app milestone, and has added over 1,500 new apps as of this writing to reach 19,637 total apps. In just the last, 24 hours the Marketplace has added 901 new apps, and looks poised to hit 20,000 apps no later than tomorrow.
Of course, total apps doesn't always tell the whole story as any Android user can attest, but the growth shows dedication from the developer community. The aim is not to hit a magical round number of apps in the store, but to hit a sufficient number of apps so there are no gaping holes in what users need. And, the Marketplace seems to be pushing towards that point.
Apps selling in App Store and Android Market
iOS and the App Store have been in the forefront of monetizing from applications, but is the gap between the Android Market and Apple’s storefront closing? The latest report from market researchers Distimo suggests the contrary. Developers on iOS are enjoying a much more active ecosystem with regularly updated lists of apps by Apple and thus a higher chance to be noticed, while slow updates of app listings are in the core of Android remaining a place where users pick the free apps. To back up those claims, stats show that nearly 80% of paid Android applications can’t reach 100 downloads.
To worsen things further, there were only five games on the Market that have passed the 250,000 download threshold, while in the last two months alone, the App Store has registered ten games with over 250,000 downloads in the States alone.
“It is more challenging for developers in the Google Android Market than in the Apple App Store to monetize using a one-off fee monetization model. We found that only two paid applications have been downloaded more than half a million times in the Google Android Market worldwide to date, while six paid applications in the Apple App Store for iPhone generate the same number of downloads within a two month timeframe in the United States alone,” Distimo summarizes. What's your personal experience with iOS or Android, do you use many paid apps?
1923 Leica 0-series sold $1.89 million at auction, becoming world's most expensive camera
Just when we thought ancient wooden boxes were all the rage among camera collectors, a compact beauty has shattered our theories -- this 1923 Leica 0-series just sold at auction for €1,320,000, or about 1.89 million in US money. Curiously enough, the exact same auction house reportedly sold the exact same camera four years ago: No. 107, the first Leica to be exported, allegedly for a patent application inspection in New York. In 2007, it fetched a relatively paltry €336,000, which was apparently still a world record for Leica cameras at the time. Quite the return on that investment, no? Find more pictures and details at the links below.
Microsoft gets $5 from every Android device sold by HTC
Microsoft has five times more income from Android for its patent fee than it has registered from its own Windows Phone platform. Some 30 million HTC Androids sold so far make for a total of $150 million solely from licenses for Microsoft.
In addition, another Citi analyst, Kevin Chiang, shared his estimate on Android device producers operating margins standing at 10% to 15% for handsets, while for tablets the number stood at the mere 2% to 3%.
To put it all in perspective, the average selling price of HTC-made phones hovers around the $360 mark, so that translates into a 1.39% share Microsoft snatches from the cost of the smartphone. If the software giant manages to force all phone makers to pay the patent fee, it would certainly swing the scales towards Windows Phone as Android would turn to be considerably less profitable.
Friday
Kingmax’s world’s first 65GB microSD card
KINGMAX Unveils World's Largest Capacity 64GB Micro SD Card:
KINGMAX has implemented the 9 Stacked Die technology for this Class 6 micro SD card. It complies with the latest SD3.0 and Class 6 specifications but is also compatible with SD Card Association's SD2.0 specification. Although it comes in a compact size, it definitely satisfies consumer' needs for massive multimedia data storage. Simply plug the micro SD card into mobile devices and one can instantly enjoy the convenience of memory expansion. Whether it is high-resolution or video clips, photos, mp3 files, mobile games or multimedia downloads; the 64GB micro SD card makes entertainment on-the-go possible. Moreover, with the help of an adapter, KINGMAX's micro SD card can also be used as a SD card or USB flash drives. With its wide ranging applications from digital cameras, multimedia players, PCs, PDAs, card readers to printers, this multi-purpose tiny memory card is definitely a great value buy!
KINGMAX's micro SD card has a built in Error Correction Code (ECC) which acts through controller to auto detects and reconstructs lost data during transmission to ensure reliable data transfer. In addition, micro SD comes with Wear leveling algorithm function which allocates all the information into different areas in the memory card to increase each area's average usage and helps to maximize product lifetime. From multimedia files, address book, business applications to personal data, KINGMAX's mega-capacity 64GB micro SD card makes files storage fast and easy; enabling consumers to enjoy quality and convenient on-the-go experience.
All of KINGMAX's micro SD cards have been approved by various safety and environmental standards including CE, FCC, and RoHS; they have also been certified compatible with major OS. KINGMAX is proud to say all of its products are subjected to the most stringent quality control; all products go through rigorous testing to ensure product quality. And finally, all microSD products come with lifetime warranty to provide 100% satisfaction guarantee to customers.
Product Feature:
‧High compatibility & reliability
‧Ultra fast transfer rate
‧plug and play
Product specifications:
‧SD3.0
‧Capacity：64GB
‧Speed：Class6
‧Dimension：15 mm x11 mm x1.0mm
‧Wear leveling algorithm to maximize product lifetime
‧Built-in Error Correction Code that auto corrects data
‧Energy efficient, extends mobile devices' battery lifetime
iPad 2 Review
The iPad 2, one of the most successful product from Apple had been released for quite a long time. Now, lets take a look of the Apple new-born product.
DesignKey features:
- 9.7” capacitive IPS touchscreen display with a resolution of 1024 x 768 pixels
- Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n connectivity
- Optional 3G connectivity (data only)
- Optional GPS with A-GPS support
- Apple A5 processor
- iOS 4.3
- 16/32/64GB of onboard storage
- Weight of 601 grams (607 grams for the 3G version)
- Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR
- 10 hours battery life
- Accelerometer, compass and three-axis gyro-sensor
- Compatible with every iPhone app without any modifications
- The cheapest version costs less than an unlocked iPhone
- 0.7MP auto-focus camera, 720p video recording at 30fps
- VGA secondary camera capable of Facetime calls
- Impressively slim 8.8mm waistline
- Four and five-finger gestures (locked by default, but easy to enable with a Mac and a $5 app)
- 1080p TV-output with the Apple Digital AV Adapter (purchased separately for $39), 720p video streaming
Apple kept the aluminum unibody but gave the iPad 2 the tapered edges typical of the older generations of the iPhone.
A metal case is always a premium feature especially with the iPad’s thickness of just 8.8 mm. It’s the slim girth and the reduced weight that make the iPad 2 notably more comfortable to use and handle.
The iOS looks slightly different on the iPad mostly due to the larger screen and less importantly - the higher resolution. And while there are not too many UI tweaks to make better use of the extra space, most of the system apps have been reworked and use split screen allowing you to see more content and saving you a few taps.
The homescreens on the iPad UI support landscape orientation too and the dock can harbor up to six icons. The iOS 4.3 saw the addition of a screen brightness slider to the multi-tasking bar.
Browsing the web on the new Apple tablet is a really nice experience, with the great loading speeds (better than the first iPad), fluid touch control and gesture support (pinch zooming also works like a charm). Downloads are also possible so you can easily save an image you are looking at for opening it latter on your iPad.
The multiple tabs support and the auto fill and password managers also improve the usability of the Safari browser greatly. The pop-up menus appear as small windows on the screen itself rather than occupying the display things are even more desktop-like.
Apple sold millions of the first iPad. In just two days, the iPad 2 was out of stock in the US. And these are not the original iPad owners chucking their old tablet in the bin and lining up for the new one. The iPad 2 isn’t meant for them. It does not upgrade the first-gen gadget – its goal is to convert NEW users.
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