Distimo, a startup focused on providing app store analytics, has published its latest report detailing the mobile app ecosystem across the Apple App Store for iPad and iPhone, BlackBerry’s App World, the Android Market, Nokia’s Ovi Store, Palm’s App Catalog and the Windows Marketplace for Mobile for July 2010 in the United States.

Similar to previous reports, Distimo primarily looked at pricing characteristics across all major app stores to determine the proportion of free vs. paid apps and the average cost of which, which continue to rise.  The Android Market continues to have the largest share of free apps compared to the others, with 60% of the total, compared to just 29% for Apple’s App Store for iPhone and 26% for the iPad App Store.  Android has more than double the amount of free apps than any of the other six App Stores in the report.

Continue Reading

You just received an invitation from Apple.

Where are you headed, you ask? To the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San Francisco, California this morning for the company’s annual September event and, presumably, new product/service roll out.

But here’s the catch. You’ll be able to attend from the comfort of wherever your nearest iDevice or Mac is located.

According to Apple, the company will broadcast its event online using Apple’s “industry-leading HTTP Live Streaming, which is based on open standards. Viewing requires either a Mac running Safari on Mac OS X version 10.6 Snow Leopard, an iPhone or iPod touch running iOS 3.0 or higher, or an iPad.”

The live broadcast will begin at 10:00 am PST and be available exclusively at www.apple.com.

Booyah’s latest LBS creation, InCrowd, has gone live in the Apple App Store.  Initially announced at Facebook’s “Places” launch event, InCrowd is the first app built off the Facebook Places API and the only location-based app that has exclusive access to Facebook search.

Leveraging data straight from Facebook, InCrowd takes the concept of “social gaming” to an entirely new level.  Beyond basic checkins and social utility, InCrowd allows users to create their own customizable avatars, “interact” with old and new friends nearby as well as accumulate status and virtual goods.

Continue Reading

It was reported over the weekend that Apple’s App Store has reached 250,000 total apps, reaching yet another important milestone in its short existence.

According to 148Apps.biz, who keeps a running tab on app store metrics, Apple’s U.S. App Store passed the quarter million mark on Friday, just two years and 49 days after it opened to the world.  As of Saturday morning, there were 251,007 applications from 50,304 publishers available for download for the iPhone, iPad or iPod touch.  AppShopper.com, which keeps a similar list, has the total pegged at 253,777 apps, including 24,334 for the iPad.

Continue Reading

The ARIA Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas has always been known to lead Sin City in technological innovation, and is furthering that reputation with the release of three new iPhone apps.

The first one, simply dubbed “ARIA,” is an interactive concierge app for guests of the hotel, giving users on-the-go access to news, menus, directions, tickets, weather, special offers and much more within a single app.  User can take advantage of all the complex has to offer directly from the app, including reserving show tickets, booking reservations at the numerous restaurants or navigating the massive grounds.

Continue Reading

Mobile app monetization is big business these days, with more and more reports circulating about developers and the mounds of cash they’re earning on free apps.  While iAds hasn’t exactly gotten off to a great start, other rich media mobile ad-networks are chugging right along with reports of highly successful campaigns that emulate the same attributes iAd promised.

One such ad-network, Greystripe, has seen a boost in developer and advertiser interest since the launch of iAds, and recently announced that one development firm on its network is earning over $10,000 a day using its rich media ad-units.  MobilityWare, a company that produces popular gaming apps for the iPad, iPod Touch and iPhone, has been on the Greystripe network for over two years and claims earnings of $298,309 for the month of June, 2010 for its 17 apps in the App Store.

Continue Reading

Intel is on the move in the mobile space.

On Monday, it was announced that Intel is shelling out $1.4 billion to purchase the wireless division of Infineon, a major component supplier for laptop and mobile devices, the most famous of which is the iPhone.

According to MarketWatch, the purchase strongly relates to integral mobile and wireless technologies like Wi-Fi, 3G, WiMAX and LTE.

Among the initially assumed and ultimately stated reasons for Intel’s acquisition is that the company is admittedly eager to diversify beyond its core business of providing computer chips. To say that “this market is softening” would , in fact, be an understatement.

Continue Reading