App Store Reaches 10 Billion App Downloads!

 

Today is a day that will go down in history. The App store has reached 10 Billion downloads! This is more apps downloaded than people on this earth! Congratulations Apple, but what is next? 20 Billion? 50 Billion? 100 Billion? I hope we can get a bit of rest before you smash through those barriers. 

The person who downloads the 10 Billionth app will win a $10,000 iTunes voucher but we still have to wait to find out who it is, maybe it will be you. Personally, if won I would sell the voucher for $9,000 and go crazy in the actual Apple store. Probably won't but who knows...

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Source iTunes

Apple Mac App Store Now Open For Business

Apple released today an update for all Macs, 10.6.6 which brings the Mac App Store to everyone who owns a Mac running Snow Leopard. The store launched with over 1,000 apps available for download with many familiar apps you've come to know from using iOS devices. The Mac App Store works just like the App Store in iOS devices and uses your iTunes account to purchase and download apps. Apps install in the same way as they do on iOS devices, quickly and without additional steps on your part. An icon pops up in your dock when your purchase or download a free app and installs itself automatically. Updates are done thru the Mac App Store which will notify your if your app/s are in need of an update. You can start off buy downloading some free apps that are now available. Go ahead, update if you haven't already!

Apple Mac Store Opens it's Doors on January 6th

 

Apple has announced that it's Mac app store will be available for download on January 6th next year. This is Apple's desktop version of the already incredibly popular iPhone and iPad app stores. But everyone still running 10.5 needs to upgrade to 10.6 to take advantage of the Mac App store as it only runs on Snow Leopard. Apple is planning on launching it around the world in 90 countries and will include free and paid apps of a wide range of apps for Apple's computer OS from developers all around the world. However Apple is not taking submissions of apps that are trials, demos, or betas, you will have to go to the developer's website to get these, but if you are a developer, I would suggest getting yours in there to get better exposure as it will probably be as big of a hit with developers and consumers alike as the iPhone and iPad app store. 

Read the press release below. 

Apple's Mac App Store to Open on January 6

CUPERTINO, California-December 16, 2010-Apple® today announced that the Mac® App Store℠ will open for business on Thursday, January 6. By bringing the revolutionary App Store experience to Mac OS® X, the Mac App Store makes discovering, installing and updating Mac apps easier than ever. The Mac App Store will be available in 90 countries at launch and will feature paid and free apps in categories like Education, Games, Graphics & Design, Lifestyle, Productivity and Utilities.

"The App Store revolutionized mobile apps," said Steve Jobs, Apple's CEO. "We hope to do the same for PC apps with the Mac App Store by making finding and buying PC apps easy and fun. We can't wait to get started on January 6."

The Mac App Store lets you browse new and noteworthy apps, find out what's hot, view staff favorites, search categories and read customer ratings and reviews. Like on iPhone®, iPod touch® and iPad™, you can purchase, download and install apps in just one click and start using them immediately. Purchased apps can run on all of your personal Macs and updates are delivered directly through the Mac App Store so it's easy to keep all of your apps up to date. The Mac App Store is available to Mac OS X Snow Leopard® users as a free download through Software Update.

Mac developers set the price for their apps, keep 70 percent of the sales revenue, are not charged for free apps and do not have to pay hosting, marketing or credit card fees. To find out more about developing for the Mac App Store visit developer.apple.com/programs/mac.

Apple designs Macs, the best personal computers in the world, along with OS X, iLife, iWork, and professional software. Apple leads the digital music revolution with its iPods and iTunes online store. Apple is reinventing the mobile phone with its revolutionary iPhone and App Store, and has recently introduced its magical iPad which is defining the future of mobile media and computing devices.

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Source Apple

Flash Comes To The iPhone! Well Kinda...

 

Good news folks! You can now watch flash video on an iOS device! And how I hear you ask, by using a brand new browser called Skyfire. As you can expect, Skyfire does not use Flash exactly, because if they did Steve Jobs would kick its ass straight out the door, it converts Flash video to HTML5 so it can be played on iOS devices. However, Skyfire can't play flash games or on Hulu. 

Skyfire should be available on the App Store at 9 A.M. EST on Thursday after a wait of over a month for admission into Apple's walled garden. Check the video out below.

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Apple Responds to iTunes Hack

 

Over the weekend, we reported that iTunes was hacked (read here) by a rogue iPhone developer had managed to make his apps 42 of the top 50 places in the Books category in the App Store.  So we've finally gotten a press release from Apple about the subject and it says that "the developer in question, called Thuat Nguyen has been kicked out of the app store. However, the do not say clearly that fraud had happened, but if you are concrerned at all about this matter, they say to contact your bank and stop your card if any of your info was stolen... which implies that something did actually happen.

The developer Thuat Nguyen and his apps were removed from the App Store for violating the developer Program License Agreement, including fraudulent purchase patterns. 

Developers do not receive any iTunes confidential customer data when an app is downloaded. 

If your credit card or iTunes password is stolen and used on iTunes we recommend that you contact your financial institution and inquire about canceling the card and issuing a chargeback for any unauthorized transactions. We also recommend that you change your iTunes account password immediately. For more information on best practices for password security visit http://www.apple.com/support/itunes.

So, Steve's walled garden has a hole in it, but it seems like only a very small amount of people have been affected by the problem. Long live iTunes!

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Source Engadget

App Store Hacked!

2 iPhone developers have uncovered a massive security flaw in the App Store. The rating of their apps dramatically dropped, so Patrick Thomson and Alex Brie looked into it and realized someone had been hacking into iTunes accounts to buy apps developed by someone called Thuat Nguyen. And so by doing this, the hacker was able to rank 41 of his apps in the top 50 of the Books category. 

Below is a picture of the extent of the problem. And the question remains, how has this developer managed to hack enough iTunes accounts to buy the number of apps required for each to dominate the paid books category on iTunes?

 

Of course, by the time you read this, I’m sure Apple will removed these apps, and Apple will of probably give the money back to people who were hacked. So until this is officially fixed, the best option would be to change your iTunes password. 

This is probably the first instance of the App Store being hacked. Unfortunately, this might not be the last we see of it.

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Source thenexweb.com