Today's Apps Gone Free: WhatsApp Messenger, All

AppAdviceToday's Apps Gone Free: WhatsApp Messenger, All-In Fitness, Chopper Mike ...AppAdviceStay in touch with all of your friends with the cross-platform messenger, WhatsApp Messenger. We also have a fitness app that will help you get into shape, and a challenging arcade game that has you piloting a helicopter through obstacle courses. All ...



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New Mobile Apps for Office 365: OWA for iPhone and iPad

Paul Thurrott's SuperSite for WindowsNew Mobile Apps for Office 365: OWA for iPhone and iPadPaul Thurrott's SuperSite for WindowsWell, this is a surprise. Microsoft today released native Outlook clients for iPhone and iPad, providing users of those mobile devices with native apps for Office 365-based email, contacts and calendars. Called OWA (which actually stands for Outlook ...



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Top 4G Apps for Motorola Droid Bionic

Spotify

Spotify lets we stream song of your choice. The best thing in it is that we can save a tracks so that we can play it even when we are not connected to a internet. 4G connectors are elite as we can download the song faster.

Do we want to know another best thing about it It s free.

Netflix

Now we don t have to lay in front of a TV to watch a good movie or we favorite TV shows. Install Netflix in your phone and no matter where we are we can watch films or TV shows. The thing that we need to know is that we have to get a subscription to watch them. If we want to exam it we can download a trial chronicle and after that we can confirm whether we want it or not. You can manage your video queues right from your phone.

There are some subscription charges but we can download it for free.

Fring

You might have used many video call apps on your phone with a 3G support but a experience might not be really good. Do we want something new Download a Fring. It supports 4G and provides we the best peculiarity and we can finally have a decent video chat. It s easy to use and a best of all 4 people can discuss at a time. This is not all. You can IM with your friends on Yahoo Google Talk etc.

4G support Better video peculiarity Free

Bambuser

 

Broadcasting videos from a 3G phone is an aged way. World has changed on to 4G and many apps are being designed to support 4G. Bambuser is an app that supports 3G and 4G phones. 4G will let we broadcast videos faster though if we don t have a 4G support in your phone we can still use it for 3G. You can also let your friends and family know about your link as we can share what we have posted on a social networks.

Bambuser is accessible for giveaway in a market. Hurry up. Grab one for your phone now.

Llama

4G provides improved speed but we need to compensate for a usage. So it s improved to limit your usage. Sometimes when we are in a office or any other place where there is Wi Fi available we forget to spin off your 4G. Llama can help we with that. This app will determine your location and than it will activate a services formed on where we are.

It's free.

Tablet Review - Features And Specifications

With a 8.9 in. screen a T Mobile G Slate is noticeably smaller than both a 10.1 in. Xoom and a 9.8 in. iPad 2. The G Slate is customarily slightly heavier than a iPad 2 though like a Xoom feels heftier due to a odd weight distribution.

The G Slate has a density of 0.49 in. a small over one third thicker than a iPad 2 8242 s 0.34 in. profile. In landscape mode a screen is as far-reaching as a iPad 2 8242 s though is about an in. shorter in height. The G Slate feels gentle in a hands while typing either in landscape or mural mode and unlike a iPad 2 with a smooth as silk steel casing a G Slate isn t as expected to trip from a grip.

On a bottom side a tablet has ports for Mini USB and Mini HDMI nonetheless not Micro HDMI as on a Xoom. On a top are a volume rocker and microphone pinhole. Two speakers can be found on a right side with another on a left. Also on a left are a power/lock symbol a headphone jack and a power adapter container input.

Accessing a G Slate s SIM label is a small more concerned than doing a same on a Xoom. There s a dark panel on a back requiring we to pull down and slip it revealing a SIM container as good as a reset symbol underneath.

These days we can t have a inscription without a built in camera customarily two. The G Slate attempts to one up a competition by including not customarily a front confronting 2 megapixel camera though also a 5 megapixel 3D camera on a back. Technically this is 3 cameras in all nonetheless T Mobile isn t unequivocally marketing it that way.

If we ve seen pics of a back of a G Slate we may have noticed a slight silver image across it. You may have also insincere this stylish looking image doubled as a kickstand. It doesn t a only duty is to supplement a small design panache.

The G Slate is a first Honeycomb inscription with out of a box 4G support pleasantness of T Mobile s network. The inscription also comes with T Mobile streaming TV preinstalled as good as an on direct service called T Mobile TV EA s Need for Speed Shift HD Zinio Reader and 3D camcorder and actor software. Full Flash support is delivered via a Get Flash focus which will implement Flash on a device within seconds.

The G Slate also provides a usual inscription features such as Bluetooth 2.1 support for audio and marginal support including Bluetooth keyboards . The Wi Fi receiver supports bands adult to 802.11n. Embedded sensors for shade brightness accelerometer and gyroscope are all included

A 1GHz Nvidia Tegra 2 twin core mobile processor and 32MB of inner flash memory turn out a specs.

The good With 4G support a far-reaching angle IPS shade out of a box streaming TV facilities and Honeycomb support a G Slate is currently a best choice for Android inscription shoppers.

The bad Unless we have a thing for twin year contracts a G Slate is flattering expensive. 3D doing is unsatisfactory and 4G drains a battery something quick.

Samsung expects Galaxy S4 to actually create 15-20% of its Smartphone sale

Samsung Electronics expects its galaxy s4 vary to firmly contribute as abundant as 15-20% of its Smartphone sales volume by your year-end because it expands the vary within the country.

Samsung nowadays introduced 2 smart phones due to s4 family within the Indian market -- s4 mini and s4 zoom -- priced at rs 27, 900 and rs 29, 900, respectively.

Galaxy s4 has received a phenomenal response since its launch within the Indian market. We are confident that mini and zoom also will do well . . . we expect the s4 vary to firmly comprise 15-20 per cent of your Smartphone sales ( volume ) from India by the tip of the year, Samsung director ( mobile business ) Manu Sharma aforesaid.

The corporate is evaluating the launch of s4 active within the Indian market, he aforesaid.

The s4 was launched in India in April and is priced at concerning rs 37, 000. Sharma declined to firmly comment on sales numbers for our s4.

In the 2 new devices, Samsung currently has 14 smart phones in its portfolio, priced between rs 5, 240 and rs 40, three hundredunited nations monitors. the unarme.

per trade specialists, smart phones comprise 24 per cent as to the sales volume as to the mobile phone market, whereas in worth terms, the share is higher at concerning 40 per cent like the devices are priced on top of feature phones.

India registered sales of 73. 5 million mobile handset units throughout january-april 2013, registering a growth of 11. 1 per cent year-on-year, as per knowledge by cyber media research.

of the, 64. 1 million units were feature phones that grew by 2. 4 per cent y-o-y. But, whereas smart phones comprised simply 9. 4 million units, the sales grew by 167. 3 per cent on an annual basis.

Samsung was the leader within the smartphone class with 40. 7 per cent share, followed by micromax at 19. 3 per cent and karbonn at 8. 6 per cent market share, the knowledge showed.

the android 4. 2. 2 (jellybean) operating system powered galaxy s4 will have a 16 megapixel camera with 10x zoom capability. It additionally allows users to firmly capture and send pictures to firmly others whereas they actually are on any decision.

The 4. 27-inch galaxy s4 mini will have a 1. 7 GHz dual core processor, eight mp rear-facing camera and 1. 9 mp HD front-facing camera.

The watch on app upon the phone allows users to work with their s4 mini currently being a remote to firmly management their TVs, set-top boxes and DVD players.

Samsung has partnered with reliance communications, beneath that users will get 2 GB 3 g knowledge free per month for 3 months due to telecom operator reliance.

Wi-Fi Network Widely Used Public Infographic

The Danger Of  Public Wi-Fi Network: Today, the network Wi-Fi is widely used has brought many benefits such as high flexibility allowing the network to less than cable. 

But Wi-Fi networks to many potential security risk. You should be more careful when you are online networks in which you do not know or do not trust such as when using Wi-Fi in the bar Local coffee. 

When you're connected via Wi-Fi hotspots anyone around that can monitor the information transmitted between your computer and Wi-Fi hotspot if your connection is not encrypted. 

Avoid perform important activities such as banking or shopping through the public network . services provider can monitor all traffic on their networks which may include personal information of you. 

However, if you use an encrypted connection services for your web service this service can make someone difficult to infiltrate your operating much more. 

Would you like to know you the ability to hit Data theft via public Wi-Fi network is like? And how to protect your data? Let us consult Infographic below.

Google Ads Crush Users Blackouts

Google Ads crush on content: With both broad keywords Google often give a lot of information but not the first search engine users this desire. 

For example, the word Auto Mechanic is one of the information that North Americans and Europeans old continent the two largest markets of Google now always very interest which is what the user gets only 13% of the screen to display the search results. 

Up to 29% of display advertising services from car repair service Google Adwords and Google Maps map also shows the locations for car repair company registration accounting for 7% and the 13 inch screen 1.440x900 resolution is quite popular nowadays.

Everything will be much worse if Google Search users browsing on mobile phones. With Italian Food keywords on an iPhone 4, users will be very hard to get the desired results. 

The first page is the advertising links, page 3 and then map the locations registered trademarks of Google to the 5th page of the search for new information revealed.

Google to talk business through advertising forms inserted into the free service as a search in the course. But if features quick plucking know of he broke has become dilatory the time by many advertising pages before finding the required information then sooner or later will cause the user to find pages with search engines more effective.

In fact, not only new Google search engine development. Yahoo has improved search interface Their simple style and search efficiency is also improved considerably. 

Microsoft's Bing has the ability to find the latest news related to the keywords the user to update information. And above all two of Yahoo and Microsoft services are at the advertising page Beer with optimism as Google

Pinterest Page Abusing Information

Pinterest Page Abusing information: Through sending mail the hacker uses the logo of social networking big confusing the user mail comes from reliable sources.  

They were driven access malicious links thereby paving the way for hackers to penetrate the device.

The Trend Micro security experts said the user will receive a notification e-mail account Pinterest password has been changed. 

Traditionally, users will think your account was hacked lost someone, will visit the link to view the status led. It was at this time the new account hack really happening. 

Link leads will redirect the user to address a series of websites that will eventually install a trojan horse override the settings and install malicious code on the user computer cridex backdoor.

The malicious software is designed as a Windows installation will penetrate and steal bank account information from the victim which hackers can steal money managed by this account.

Users can avoid this stolen information is not accessed by the link on the lead only to change the password from the site Pinterest mainstream. 

At the same time users should also make sure that you are using the latest version of Java Adobe Acrobat Adobe Reader and Flash.

Nokia Lumia 1020 Smartphone Released

Nokia Lumia 1020 with 41 cameras dotted released:This product will be available first in the U.S. for $ 300 with 2 year contract with AT & T.

After that,Lumia 1020 dock will turn to other markets in the third quarter of this right.

In the event just ended a few minutes ago in New York, USA, Nokia was officially introduced to the market Lumia 1020 Pure View with 41 megapixel camera. 

Regarding specifications Nokia Lumia 1020 integrated 4.5 inch screen resolution of 1280 x 768 pixels (16:9) using AMOLED technology Gorilla Glass toughened glass cover 3.

The most notable of the Lumia 1020 of course the camera. Equipped with 6 lenses of Zeiss components, Xenon flash format with different light modes and optical anti shake technology 2nd generation.

Regarding software Lumia 1020 integrated applications Nokia Camera Pro helps users to adjust the flash focus points ISO white balance and shutter speed. Machine is capable of recording video at 30 frames 1.080p / sec with 4x zoom.

Nokia also provides an external shell called Nokia Camera Grip allows extended battery and turn the Lumia in 1020 as a compact camera. The price of this accessory is 80 USD.

Hkphone Tickets Arsenal Team Play

Hkphone tickets to Arsenal: Competition Discover Revo LEAD Get Arsenal tickets are Hkphone Arsenal celebrated in Vietnam.

10 pairs of tickets to watch the match between Vietnam and the Arsenal team will be dedicated to 10 lucky winners.

Accordingly, those who wish to participate in the contest will have access to arsenal  7 to answer questions about products and services Hkphone.

10 people answered correctly and predict the most accurate participant will receive 10 pairs of tickets for matches between Vietnam and the Arsenal team. The competition takes place from 11/7 to end on 16/07/2013.

Your list of winners will be the organizers in light contact competition on 17/7 for up to accept the award.

Competition Discover Revo LEAD Get tickets to watch Arsenal a place for users to express their understanding of Vietnamese phone brand Hkphone explore the product as well as its latest smartphone the Revo LEAD.

This is the first product of Hkphone equipped with 5-inch screen size resolution Full HD 1920x1080 pixels with a pixel density of up to 441 ppi, the equivalent of today's most advanced smartphones. 

Property completely different design products Hkphone previously Revo LEAD bring elegance sophistication. Equipped with high end chassis front panel is glossy black glass cover and the back is designed so rough scratch in only a slim 8.5 mm.

Equipped with the latest technology such as Full HD screen, quad-core 1.5 GHz, the dual camera crisis 13 MPx 8 MPx HDLens proprietary technology but only Revo LEAD priced 5.7 million copper. For this price the Revo LEAD Full HD screen smartphone available today in Vietnam.

Besides commit 100% satisfied return customers allows machine within the first 3 days without reason, LEAD Revo also sold policies genuine cheapest Products Vietnam's Hkphone.

Accordingly it will donate 500,000 customers now get genuine products cheaper but equivalent configuration LEAD Revo.

Online KT Game Industry Development

Online Game Industry in Vietnam: On 20/07/2013 in order to create opportunities for community development enthusiasts online games to share and learn together. 

We can listen to the experience of domestic and foreign experts VNG Corporation Seminar Development of online game industry in Vietnam 2nd 3rd floor in Flemington Building, 182 Le Dai Hanh Street District 11.

This will be an annual event of the company in the field of online games in Vietnam and companies abroad.

At OGDC in 2013, besides the participation of the community of enthusiasts game and experts in VNG participants also listen to guest speakers from the development studio game industry leader in Vietnam.

Main content of this workshop is to share practical experiences in making game and how to develop products game. The development strategy game as well as the concern about jobs.

An important element will be doing hot OGDC 2013 Game Mobile fashion trends have strong appeal as smart phones has become universal today.

Taking place in July when the village game was exciting with new game launches especially the Ministry of Information and Communications recently held a seminar on the management of online games in order to facilitate business conditions in developing countries the conference. 

Development of online game industry in Vietnam organized by VNG provides much it contributes to the vivid picture help the community have a more complete picture of industry online games and bring people in the industry but more rewarding playground exchanges.

HTC One Coming Soon New Blockbuster Smartphone

HTC One Coming soon new blockbuster: Though this source does not provide information about new products but the ability to process before the launch of super HTC OneX in 2012.

One X + upgraded processor improved camera and battery in the front.

Show HTC Oneshipped with the power of the processor Qualcomm Snapdragon 600 quad core 1.7 GHz speed. Therefore, the new version will be upgraded to the latest Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 with 2.3 GHz speed push up. 

Battery current HTC Oneis 2,300 mAh and can be improved a little more. Meanwhile, the front camera is not likely to change, which can be upgraded on the back Ultra Pixel camera to take pictures sharper.

The source also confirmed that, smartphone top HTC in 2014, code named M8, followed by the code name given to the M7 HTC One before it launches. 

There is no detailed information about this model but it will continue to be brushed aluminum design as the HTC One.

Yesterday (11/7) senior director of design and innovation of HTC  Justin Huang said the company will release several more models, using the lessons they learned to make from the blockbuster debut HTC One.

The first product in the smartphone equipped with the new generation of monolithic aluminum case is HTC One mini. As expected this product will be officially announced in the coming months.

iOS 7 Notification on Any Android Phone

Want iOS 7's notification center but don't have an iOS device? No problem. There's a new app called Control Center that will gives you a clone of that feature any Android phone.

The updated notification center lets you access several apps and settings by simply swiping on the bottom of the screen of your iPhone or iPad. With the duplicate app, you get pretty much the same experience on your Android. Once you've installed the app, you can swipe to turn Wi-Fi on or off, adjust volume, and other basic controls, or load up core apps like clock or camera. Plus, design-wise it looks just like iOS 7. So if you want some of the best parts of iOS 7 without actually having to buy an iPhone, here's your chance. [Google Play / gizmodo]

Just.me hits 250000 users, upgrades HTML5 and iOS social messaging apps ...

Social messaging app maker Just.me is today launching its first Android version, and announcing significant enhancements to both its HTML5 and iOS apps in a bid to accelerate worldwide growth.

With the launch of Just.me version 1.0 for Android phones and tablets (running Ice Cream Sandwich or above), the venture-capital backed Silicon Valley company is thus making its potent social messaging and sharing application available for three major platforms free of charge, if you're willing to include the Web in this regard.

Just.me is hitting the Google Play Store with a full version that supports 32 languages, matching iOS features like media capture (one or multiple voice, video and images in a single message) with text and support for private, shared and public messages.

iOS and Web app updates

At the same time, Just.me is upgrading its iOS and Web apps.

Its Web app, for one, has been updated to support the Firefox OS and other rich HTML5 browsers, and now allows users to not only read messages but also reply to them.

The company advises Windows Phone and BlackBerry users to check out the Web version, which leads us to believe an app for those platforms isn't on the current roadmap.

As for the flagship Just.me iOS app, it has been updated to version 1.1, now sporting a redesigned interface for some of its processes, a fresh user dashboard and new features like the ability to initiate telephone calls to contacts with phone numbers directly from within the app. Users are now also able to move public stream conversations to be private.

In addition, Just.me says it is working on a native iPad application and another iPhone app update to make full use of the new iOS 7.

With the app updates and the launch of the Android version, Just.me aims to become the default single integrated messaging platform for almost everyone, with the thinking behind the apps that phones are already social and thus its owners needn't use stand-alone social networking services.

Keith Teare, the British serial entrepreneur behind Just.me, says:

Since our just.me launch in April, we have been very closely observing and measuring how our global user base has used just.me - and have been astounded at how the app has resonated.

We understand that there is always room for improvement, so we listened to feedback and believe that these enhancements will deepen the passion, usage and engagement to help make just.me a must-have app.

Early traction

Indeed, so far a quarter of a million people have signed up for the rich social messaging service in the first 90 days after its public debut on iOS.

iOS users make up 140,000 of those, and Just.me says it has seen over 5 million screen views on the platform to date.

The company, which is financially backed by the likes of Khosla Ventures, Google Ventures, True Ventures, betaworks, SV Angel and TechCrunch founder Michael Arrington, believes the launch on Android and the iOS and Web app upgrades will really make the service go viral.

Top image credit: Justin Sullivan / Getty Images

Disclosure: This article contains an affiliate link. While we only ever write about products we think deserve to be on the pages of our site, The Next Web may earn a small commission if you click through and buy the product in question. For more information, please see our Terms of Service.



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Revo MAX With Consumers Communities

Anh Huy a lot of people use smartphones said: Keywords Revo MAX is about 8 million Google returns results found in 0.1 seconds showing the user community is very interested. 

The public survey the number of over 1,300 participants and survey satisfaction rate is 68%, the quality of Revo Hkphone MAX has been the main users appreciate.

Revo MAX is a breakthrough on the cheap smartphone market today because previous trend screen to the default which is only available on expensive smartphones and yet there are many cheap product quality involved in the Vietnam market. 

Machine weak convergence 5 important: large screen, powerful configuration nice slim design strong battery,very cheap price in Vietnam until this point.

Evaluation and interpretation of product quality than price his analysis. This is a bargain for buyers good processing quality the back cover is made of high quality poly carbonate material. Proven fact Revo MAX screen fitted glass bearing very good. 

Equipped with dual core to all activities of computer software such as running surfing the web watching movies playing games very smooth smoother faster 50% or more compared with the single chip products.  Coat your opinion is just one of the many positive feedback of the user community Revo MAX product.

Hkphone Representatives revealed Revo MAX has always received special attention of consumers through attractive pricing that the stable quality durable. It is no coincidence that we strongly commit to giving 100% satisfaction t that so far has not dared to apply firm commitment.

Machine sold for $ 3.45 million, the bonus gifts worth VND 850,000, including premium leather paneled back 500,000, 150,000 stickers screen 5 games and applications copyright 200,000, along with program 100% satisfied customers return the product within 3 days if not satisfied without any reason.

Moreover, customers are guaranteed Revo MAX commitment through genuine products cheaper in Vietnam  according to the customer within 5 days after purchase to find products that are not greater than the value of MAX Revo, but have a higher profile the product will be returned and received gifts of up to 500,000 e Hkphone.

OTT Applications Most Battery Saving

Zalo is OTT applications most battery saving: Along with the strong growth of smartphones, tablet computers is the introduction of OTT. 

The applications able to provide call features messaging on mobile devices using an Internet connection. 

Similar to the applications other criteria to evaluate a applications good lies not only in features but also optimize energy savings to deliver long use time users.

Typically, the applications OTT developers will be pre set features the same stealth device when connected to network clients can update status and constantly interact with each other without interruption. 

However, the downside is the amount of power consumption for certain push data to keep constant connection. It was for this reason the applications with the different manufacturers will have a different consumption.

A simple test between OTT currently popular include Viber, Kakao Talk, Zalo, Line, Skype and Facebook Messenger through measurement tools Battery Stats Plus on Android 4.1.1 operating system smartphone uses HTC One S showed applications.

Most energy drain is Kakao Talk and Facebook Messenger with 22% battery for 1 hour continuous use both calling and texting. 

The applications OTT Others include Viber Line or Skype have reached an average level of consumption in the range between 18% ,20%. On the contrary,Zalo create the impression when finishing with just 16% to save battery power consumption in the test set.

Own terms in Vietnam market with strong competitive advantages of the OTT the Zalo is applications medium capable of supporting the rich features and capabilities to save battery . 

The current version 1.0.8 ofZalo seem to have better improve the energy drain of applications This compared to the original. It also showed the tremendous effort of the VNG manufacturers want to offer the user aapplications Vietnam Net worth in all aspects of usability for both energy savings.

At Bar Camp event held in HCM City on 7/7 last representative Zalo shared that the last time out Zalo customer repeated threatened to remove immediately application This mobile phone from reason energy drain. 

The pressure that forced people to Zalo rushing to find an urgent solution to the problem of energy saving. Up to the present time the level of energy consuming Zalo decreased 4 times the first time according to the results of the Agilent 34401A multi meter measurements one of the power meter on the best selling in the world today.

In general, the applications OTTare probably the better choice. Despite that the battery consumption depends on many other factors such as ROM version temperature speed of data transfer and processing capabilities of the system but also the numbers on the ability to reflect the actual consumption of the application OTT but Zalo is probably a reasonable choice for telecom terms, the climate of Vietnam.

This Gaming Startup Has 100 Interns Building Apps This Summer

When most Gen-Yers were in high school and college, they worked as camp counselors, in retail or perhaps financial services/banking over the summer to make money. Not so exciting. But the times are changing! MakeGamesWithUs, a startup that graduated from the prestigious YCombinator (Class W12), is housing 100 high school and college interns to build gaming apps at a 'Hacker House' in Palo Alto (and some startup space rented in SF) this summer.

MakeGamesWithUs (MGWU) teaches high school and college students how to build iPhone games and publishes these games for a share of the revenues. Students learn to build games through free online tutorials covering programming and game design. Once their games are nearing completion, they can choose to publish through MGWU to receive professional art for their games, access to MGWU's templates and tools, and feedback on game design and monetization in exchange for a revenue share. They currently have 17 games on the App Store.

This summer, students are spending most of their days building their own games at the Hacker House. MGWU works with some of the most promising young tech talent in the bay area, and while results from the summer aren't in yet, they look promising.

Founders Jeremy Rossmann and Ashutosh Desai, both college dropouts (from MIT and UCLA respectively), started the company a year and a half ago to solve a problem they once had. Desai built his first iPhone game in high school and made $35k, while Jeremy built his first in college and was featured in the App Store. Learning, building, and selling a game was a difficult process for both of them, so they've been building a platform to make it easier for other youngsters. One of their core goals is to enable more people to start shipping products at a young age. The process of building a product is a valuable learning experience not taught in schools, and it's a gratifying feeling to have thousands of people around the world use something you create. Plus, in today's job market, having shipped a successful app can be more valuable than a college degree.

Students can build games remotely through their site and they're also experimenting with a click and mortar model where they learn through online tutorials in a classroom setting. MGWU's tutorials have already been used to teach iPhone game development courses at MIT, UCLA, and Menlo School, and they're actively looking for inspired teachers, students, and professionals to help bring courses to more high schools, colleges and hacker spaces.

I had the opportunity to connect with Ashutosh Desai, the co-founder of MakeGamesWithUs, to talk about the Hacker House, what success they've seen and if there are any stand-out students.

Alex Taub (AT): How did you end up with 100 interns this summer? What's the Hacker House like?

Ashutosh Desai (AD): We ran a similar program last summer on a much smaller scale. We didn't intend to do it again, but we had overwhelming inbound interest from people who heard about it from last year so we had to do it again. It's a great program for both sides, we get an opportunity to engage with our users every day and use our observations to improve our tutorials + publishing process, plus we should be able to dramatically increase the number of games in our catalog. Meanwhile, interns get a taste of a Silicon Valley startup, get to work in an environment with lots of smart peers, and will build and ship a game - a massive accomplishment and great centerpiece for their resume.

Once we decided to run the program we figured we'd do it big. We visited and called CS departments of local high schools and colleges to recruit interns, but most of the growth in applications was from word of mouth. We ended up with 160 applications from all corners of the world (this surprised us!) and accepted roughly 103 of them. The backgrounds of the interns vary, most interns are in high school or college, though we have a few sharp middle schoolers, and a few college graduates. Most are local, but we have a few out-of-towners, most notably one from Mexico City, and one from Indonesia who's going to school in the US.

The Hacker House has been a great environment, we've loved living and working here for the past year, and it's fun to open it up this summer to so many bright students. On a typical day, interns will arrive at the house at 10am, sit down at desks, and start coding. They'll typically have a good idea of what the next small step is en route to finishing their final vision. Every so often they'll have questions about their game idea or need some help with coding so they'll come to us for a quick chat. Around noon or 1 there's an hour long lunch break, we have food trucks come to the house to keep everyone fed. Occasionally we have lunchtime speakers come in to talk to them about game development or entrepreneurship. This coming Wednesday we'll have Reddit founder Alexis Ohanian coming to speak! Finally the afternoons are dedicated to more game building, or brainstorm/playtesting sessions for the interns to get feedback on their games from us as well as their peers. All of us at MGWU are incredibly inspired by our interns, it's an awesome experience to get to work with the future stars of Silicon Valley and the impact we get to have on these students is one of my favorite parts of this company.

AT: How has the success been so far with the games in the App Store? Are the founders of the games making any money?

AD: We're not disclosing numbers, but our top game Name That Jam! has hit the top 25 in Music and Trivia subcategories in the US app store. Our immediate focus as a company is to grow our catalog of games and establish ourselves in the developer community as the place to learn to build iPhone games, we'll be shifting focus to promoting and monetizing the games down the road.

AT: Any standout students?

AD: From our existing developers, Carole and Paul Touma are the brother-sister duo who built Name That Jam! They were both in high school when they built the game; next year Carole will head off to study at Princeton. Jonah Rubin is our youngest developer, at 14 he's already shipped two games: Cheese Miners and Polarity.

From this summer's batch of interns, Stephanie Campa has been one of our stars this summer. She's a high school student who built a nearly complete game in only 2 weeks! Ryo Tulman has a fascinating story; he graduated from Brown with a degree in Philosophy but has since been teaching himself how to program. He's building an awesome game with us this summer to kick off his career in tech.

AT: Any students dropping out to work full-time on their project?

AD: We've yet to have a game break out and prompt the developer to commit to it full time, but it's a good milestone to look forward to!

AT: Do you have plans for non-game apps?

AD: At this point, no. Games currently make up a vast majority of mobile revenues so it makes sense for us to focus there. Apps present a new challenge both technically and from a design standpoint, so the transition isn't as easy as it might seem. We want to keep a sharp focus on games in the foreseeable future.

AT: What's the MakeGamesWithUs model? Are you successful if one game becomes a top seller?

AD: Our model is to open up our platform to as many developers as possible and grow the biggest catalog of games on iOS. There are a couple of neat things about this. On the education side, we give away learning materials for free and take a cut of the product you create with what you've learned. I'm incredibly excited to see more companies bring this model to education. It's better (though higher risk) for educators because they stand to make more money than charging for classes. It's better for students because it's no risk. If you don't learn much, you lose nothing. If you learn enough to build a successful product, part of the revenue is kicked back to the educator. Contrast this to traditional education where you spend $50k/yr for a degree that doesn't make you money or guarantee you a job. On the game publishing side, we think growing the largest catalog of games will be our competitive advantage in the future. With high volume, we can dominate the long tail of mobile gaming but we also believe high volume is the best way to source hits (similar to platforms like YouTube).

AT: How can a student, teacher, or software engineer help get more students involved?

AD: We're looking to set up iPhone Game Development courses at schools, colleges, and hacker spaces everywhere. We've already run courses at MIT and UCLA and have put together a curriculum based on our materials. Our materials are free with no strings attached. All we're looking for is greater exposure to our website and publishing platform. We need inspired individuals to help make these courses happen. If you're interested contact us at teach@makegameswith.us

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Lumia 1020 3x Zoom Integrated Technology

The Lumia 1020 will be officially unveiled: Event Zoom reinvented takes place tonight at 10. However, all parameters of this product revealed before G and it almost coincides with previous estimate.

About camera, Lumia 1020 will be integrated technology Pure View 41 megapixel camera with optical image stabilizer the reconstructed image sensor lens 6 components high resolution 3x optical zoom, Xenon flash video recording 1080 p at 30 frames / sec. 

It also will be integrated Smart Applications Camera which is only available on the Lumia 925 and an application Nokia Pro Camera entirely new.

In terms of size, this product slim 10.4 mm, weighs 150 grams with 3 color is black, white and gold. 

Not unexpected the Lumia New Nokia integrated Snapdragon dual core chip running at 1.5 GHz, 2 GB RAM, storage capacity of 32 GB and 4.5 inch AMOLED screen (1,280 x 768 pixels) Super sensitive touch technology familiar support for touch gloves.

Machine capacity is 2,000 mAh battery like the Lumia 920, supports wireless charging with external casing. 3G talk time of this product is 13.3 h 6.8 h and video player 63H.

Galaxy S3 Still Hot

Galaxy S3 is still hot line in Vietnam: On the Android phone market a rare high end model that retains the old world charm as Galaxy S3. 

Currently, this is still one of the most selling products in the segment of high end phones both genuine and portable.

For example the HTC One X - products are considered direct competitors of Galaxy S3. One is the genuine X has stopped sales at many major dealers by low sales while with a laptop the price of this model is reduced to only 7 million equivalent to more mid range smartphone today .

Representing a prestigious retail units in Vietnam, said sales of Galaxy S3 has nearly halved after S4 sold out. However, after the fever Galaxy S4 subsided plus move right price adjustment Galaxy S3 regained and sales dropped by 25% compared with the period before S4 launched.

Currently, sales Galaxy S3 at retail outlets is still nearly double than the Lumia 920 Nokia's most advanced model to 5 times and the Sony Xperia Z. Currently the Galaxy S3 Genuine being commonly priced at 10.9 million dong.

On the side of laptops users can buy this product for $ 8-9 million. The many versions appear in Vietnamese market is dedicated to the Korean market or Japanese integrated 2 GB RAM.

He T. the owner of a portable phone down on Thai Ha street, said outside the hot products such as Galaxy S4, HTC One or a number of phones the price of 4,5 million Galaxy S3 phones are easier to sell the most portable. 

According to T. 8,9 million is a good price for a phone is considered a blockbuster of last year as S3. With integrated powerful configuration, large screen (4.8 inches) the Galaxy S3 proved not inferior to the current high-end smartphones.

The factory owners are not too different design than the Galaxy S4 is also a reason why this model retains customers by buying S3 users will not feel out of date.

Samsung is applying the correct strategy of Apple iPhone 4 and 4S with the only upgrade configuration and not experience much change in the design of the product. Thus, the Galaxy S3 still has good sales even if the new product launches life his T. emphasized.

LG Officially Powerful Smartphone

LG's most powerful Smartphone $ 14 million: Property 1.080p 5.5 inch screen quad core Snapdragon 1.7 GHz speed and 600 RAM 2 GB, G Optimus.

With 13.9 million listing price Optimus G Pro Advantage for Certain genuine competitive products như the HTC One or Samsung Galaxy S4.

Except not really designed beautifully the smartphone Optimus G Prois Considered a 5 stars with powerful configuration optimization software better and more unique compared to COMPETITORS property.

Specifically, software computer integrated multitasking Q Slide the ability to open multiple windows at the same time or allow Quick Memo notes by hand instead of the stylus.

It has a pretty slim screen border the Home button is also integrated multi colored LED lights glow startup or notice quite beautiful.

As mentioned the design is not the strength of this product. A horizontal paneled body contours make it lose and monolithic machine feels much thicker than its actual siz. It also is quite mild compared to the size giant of it.

A few other notable specifications of products includes 3,100 mAh battery, 13 megapixel rear camera. G portable version of Optimus Pro has about Vietnam from quite early (February) and is sold at over 11 million.

iPhone 6 Beautiful Latest Version

iPhone 6 Beautiful Smartphone: As long as Apple has not released a new smartphone the rumors of an iPhone 5S or iPhone 6 will continue. 

Even the designers also created the concept quite innovative iPhone but Jonathan Ive  the legendary designers of the Apple could learn something.

Recently, designers Philipp Tusch has launched the iPhone 6 Concept with 4.5 inch screen running the iOS operating system that Apple's new 7 followers Apples defect enraptured.

In design the iPhone 6 Concept is covered aluminum thinner design all previous iPhone generations ultra sensitive touch screen fills the front and no text display helps the user space. 

The bottom screen is touch Home key square completely replace physical Home button and circles on the previous version.

The left side is the volume up button is designed with touch pad while the lower edge is lightning port and standard 3.5mm headphone jack.

According to Philipp Tusch the iPhone 6 Concept will be available in 10 different color versions and also on the front cover of the machine.

According to analysts Apple iPhone 6 is released only in 2014. While the iPhone 5S will be released soon in the fall the same machine can be equipped with iPhone 5 and some outstanding features. 

Particularly when the iPhone 6 will be launched completely new design.

5 Types of Health Apps You Should Avoid

Your health is a complicated puzzle best solved by professionals, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't use technology to make things more simple. Never has it been easier to track your health, monitor your fitness goals or research treatment options.

'It turns out that your interaction with your doctor has two parts. There's a technical component: Your doctor is gathering information about you to make a diagnoses and recommend a care plan. And then there's the emotional overlay,' says Dr. Joe Kvedar, the founder and director of the Center for Connected Health, which focuses on providing healthcare outside of the traditional hospital or doctor's office setting.

'We're not taking your doctors visit away,' Dr. Kvedar explains. 'So much of what we do with patients is the algorithmic information; it's not that emotionally laden piece.' Following up with a doctor about when to take a medication is a good example of something that can be done over email. Who wants to spend an afternoon in your physician's waiting room for that?

On the other hand, discussing test results for a life-changing disease is a conversation that relies on the emotional component of the doctor-patient relationship and should be done in person.

Connected Health also weighs in on medical apps. 'The FDA is clearly getting more involved, and the regulatory agencies are trying to step up their game,' says Dr. Kvedar. 'But in the meantime there are 150,000 to 200,000 apps in the app store around health. And it's at the top of the hype cycle.'

Apple has started to take some medical apps out of rotation, but there are still a lot out there. iMedicalApps, a doctor-run site that offers formal reviews of medical apps, is a good patient resource. Dr. Satish Misra, a co-founder, considers the usability of the app, as well as the testing process and any conflicts of interest.

He recommends talking with your doctor before downloading and using any new medical apps. Most importantly 'Is whatever the app does grounded in actual fact?' He asks. You'd be surprised how often the answer is 'no.'

There Shouldn't Be an App for That

Here are five claims from apps that you should definitely take with a grain of salt:

1. Apps That Use Your Phone's Light The light on your phone has no medical powers, so apps that claim to treat acne with the power of your iPhone's glow, for example, are a no-go.

2. Spot-CheckersApps that profess the ability to spot melanoma moles make Dr. Kvedar nervous. 'The trained human eye is probably a better source for that,' he said.3. Cures From SoundUnfortunately just as your phone's light provides no health powers, your phone's sounds won't cure headaches or other medical conditions, either.

4. Insulin Dose CalculatorsBoth Dr. Kvedar and Dr. Misra said diabetic smartphone users should be especially wary of apps that record their daily food intake and, in turn, calculate an appropriate insulin dose. Food intake is one factor, but 'certainly not the only thing' to consider when calculating an insulin dose. When it comes to medication dosage, it's best to ask your doc.

5. Treatment TestersTracking a medical condition is one thing. Treatment is something else entirely. 'Any app that claims to treat a disease of any kind should raise red flags upfront,' said Dr. Misra.

The Dud List

The Center for Connected Health keeps a list of apps currently on the market that experts recommend avoiding due to false claims. Here are four:

Have you tried an unworthy medical app? Tell us about it in the comments below.

Image via iStockphoto, GeorgePeters



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Happy Anniversary, Apple App Store! Now About That Discovery Problem…

Adeven

In light of Apple's App Store turning five today, it's worth thinking about the numbers Apple's marketing arm likes to trot out celebrating the App Store's explosive growth over the past half-decade.

Fifty-billion and change, that's how many apps Apple says have been downloaded since the App Store went live five years ago. This was big news a few months ago in May, prompting Apple to roll out a few other eye-popping stats: App Store customers download more than 800 apps per second, topping two billion apps a month, and the company has paid developers over $9 billion to date. Apple even ran a contest in the run-up, and so when Brandon Ashmore of Mentor, Ohio pulled down a copy of Say the Same Thing (a word game starring Chicago alt-rockers OK Go), he pocketed a $10,000 App Store Gift Card in the bargain.

But let's pull our heads out of Apple's cloud for a moment and talk about what those figures mean - it's a short conversation, because no one knows beyond their grandeur. Like any company, Apple doesn't release detailed sales figures, say download and revenue statistics on a per-app basis, leaving us to gaze in wonder at that five followed by 10 zeroes. It's like admiring Trump Tower having not a clue what's transpiring within.

That creates a space for third-party 'analytics' firms to occupy, driving at rough estimates, with the BBC running a piece this morning about App Store-related data from a company called Adeven, a mobile marketing company that tracks iOS app downloads. The BBC says it had a peek at some of Adeven's data, which indicated that 'over two-thirds of apps in the [App Store] are barely ever installed by consumers.' Apple's App Store has around 900,000 apps (brace for the media mania when the store hits one million), another big-ticket number that sounds impressive up front, but according to Adeven, '579,001 apps out of a total of 888,856 apps in our database are zombies.' Zombies here are defined as apps that never make it into Apple's 'most-downloaded' apps chart, which apparently runs somewhere north of 300,000 slots.

That upset PC Magazine's Sascha Segan, who calls Adeven's data 'hideously bogus' and claims the company 'uses a weird methodology that pointedly ignores what a lot of these 'zombies' may be up to.' Segan then argues that he 'knows' because as an app-maker who's developed a barely downloaded app himself, he's 'one of them.' Segan's overreaching, of course: He says Adeven's study uses a 'weird methodology' without explaining what that methodology might be, much less what's 'weird' about it, and his claim to legitimacy involves an appeal to his membership in the barely-downloaded app club, as if all so-called 'zombie' app developers were just clones of him.

But I see and grant Segan's point that Adeven has a dog in the hunt: Adeven sells products designed to capitalize on its data, namely algorithms it claims can help you better sell your product to the masses. Data that indicates a majority of the products sold through Apple's app store aren't moving big numbers works to a company like Adeven's advantage. That doesn't itself invalidate Adeven's data (or interpretations of it), but it triggers a yellow-flashing potential conflict of interest alert. Segan's point that some non-bestselling apps may be selling to developer expectation is also well-taken, though it's only anecdotally applicable. It may well be the case that a certain number of long-tail apps are doing just what they're intended to: comfortably 'satisfying' niches. But just because that's what Segan's app's doing for him doesn't mean all the 'niche' app developers of the world with downloads in the thousands wouldn't rather reach tens of thousands or millions.

Semantic nitpicking aside, my problem with both of these stories is that they ignore a more crucial deficiency: Apple's App Store discovery problem.

The App Store, like any store, harbors a certain amount of detritus. I don't mean niche apps only a handful of people are going to appreciate being dismissed by ignorant media critics as detritus, but actual junk, whether poorly designed, sloppily coded or shamelessly exploitive. When you see the revenue train picking up steam, everyone wants a seat, and in my experience, the App Store has its fair share of rubbish. I don't blame Apple for allowing junk apps to proliferate, of course, and I'd rather see the company err on the side of app agnosticism (and even then, the company has censorship issues), but the flip side is that your browsing experience often bogs down in clutter and questionable search results.

So let's talk about those 900,000 apps crowding Apple's mushrooming App Store. How many have you seen? One? Three? Five? Ten? Over a dozen? How do you discover apps on your iPhone or iPad? I usually keep tabs on 'Featured' and 'Top Charts,' which tend to show the same things, month-in, month-out; new apps do pop in from time to time, but they rarely hang around for long.

Take games, where you'll still find stuff like Tiny Wings (2011), Angry Birds (2010), Minecraft (2011), Fruit Ninja (2010), Plants vs. Zombies (2010) and more perched at or near the top of the charts. If the App Store were a console/PC game sales chart, the equivalent lineup in 2013 would be Modern Warfare 3, Just Dance 3, Skyrim, Battlefield 3 and Madden NFL 12 (the five chart-topping games of 2011 by sales). Nothing against those games, and doubtless gamers still buy them today, but in a healthy, mature software ecosystem, you'd see more turnover and less of the same titles dominating for years on end. It's as if we'd hopped in a time machine back to the mid-1990s and everything anyone wants to buy is Myst, a game that dominated the game sales charts for years during PC gaming's emergent period.

That may explain some of what's been bugging me about the App Store as it works today: still an immature marketplace, on a still-maturing platform, used by a still-coming-to-grips-with-mobile-devices-as-PCs user base. It makes intuitive sense that some of these stuck-as-bestseller app sales may be driven by the ongoing smartphone conversion rate, as people who've never owned a smartphone or tablet buy what they've heard their friends talk about: stagnation via platform conversion and word-of-mouth.

But there's something else going on here: In gaming history, to stick with that genre for a moment, we've never seen as many games appear in as short a time (all the games released on the App Store alone to date dwarf the number of games released for every prior electronic game system in history combined). A site like Pocket Tactics, which offers the most insightful coverage of the mobile game space for my money, covers a fraction of a fraction of a fraction of what's available. I'm unaware of anyone trying to seriously keep up with the outflow, because you'd need a small army to. Most PR-related emails I receive these days seem to be from vendors desperate for attention, and I mean any attention at all, positive or negative. Being covered, whether picked or panned, seems to be the new five-star review in mobile app-dom.

Extrapolate to every app genre (and between ecosystems - there's the spiraling galaxy of Android apps to think about, too) as Apple's App Store's tally rockets toward one million and beyond, and the problem's not going away until we figure out how to better pair user needs, desires and ecosystem awareness with developer content. Siri can't search apps without goofy workarounds, and even if it could, it's not semantically intelligent enough to understand, say, that you want a list of IBS-related apps, but constipation-specific ones, with an above four-star user average rating, less than six months old, FODMAP and gluten-free diet-aware and free without in-app purchases. It doesn't help that Apple's existing App Store text-field search and filtering options are primitive by even legacy search engine standards.

We can learn a little, most of it superficial, by thinking about the most flattering numbers a company rolls out, e.g. 50 billion app downloads. We can learn considerably more by focusing on the less flattering ones, or thinking about the flip side of mere quantity. Devising interfaces that meaningfully synchronize user needs with marketplace products should be foremost on Apple's (and everyone else's) minds, now more than ever as new content flourishes at unprecedented rates. For me, the most important thing Apple (or Google, or whoever) can do next isn't faster phones or lighter tablets or post-Retina screens, it's figuring out how to make me aware (without being intrusive) of all the things I might find useful, hidden in a surging ocean of information.

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It has been five years since Steve Jobs announced Apple's App Store. (Kimberly ...

My assignment: Review apps that promised to place free calls on cell phones. Simple enough. But it was one that would take days to complete. There would be testing involved, yes, but first, I had to get those apps.

I visited the various app websites (many of which no longer exist), looked for the download links and confirmed the downloads with browser pop-ups. Then, if I was lucky enough to succeed and avoid the dreaded error messages, I would go find the apps in the download folder. It was a time- consuming process, one which very few would see through to the end after reading a short review about the app.

Yet I persevered, and completed the article.

That was in February 2008 while I was on staff at Laptop Magazine. It was just about six months before Apple released its App Store for the iPhone on July 10, 2008.

It might sound overly dramatic, but that day five years ago was pivotal -- even 'revolutionary,' which is how Apple described it -- in the history of mobile computing. To have access to apps on your phone was no longer a privilege for people in the inner tech sanctum. The public was now invited in. Apps quickly went mainstream, becoming accessible to most smartphone owners through a clean and friendly storefront. That first weekend alone saw 10 million apps downloaded.

Get Free Apps to Celebrate App Store's Anniversary

Contrary to what many might believe, Apple didn't invent the app store concept for mobile phones. One store called Handango had come preloaded on many Windows Mobile, Palm and Nokia, but very few paid attention to the preloaded mobile mall. It was the launch of Apple's store that prompted millions to hop on the app bandwagon and start downloading advanced software. Sure, it had something to do with the appeal of that fancy new iPhone thing, but the 'opening' of the Apple store was just as transformational as the all-touchscreen phone.

'The richness of the iPhone, and later the iPad, as a platform was what really encouraged app developers to invest the resources to create these games and apps that were very sophisticated,' Ross Rubin, principal analyst at Reticle Research, told me yesterday.

Because of that technology and a slew of innovative app developers we now assume there is an 'app for that' in almost every situation -- whether for ordering Girl Scout cookies, snapping photos of a catastrophic event or wasting time on the commute swiping away pieces of candy.

Of course, the impact hasn't only been felt by the booming population of smartphone owners; thousands of companies have jumped into the app world, creating applications for Apple, Android and other mobile app stores that followed. Apple alone estimates that nearly 300,000 jobs related to app development have been created in the U.S.

For the last five years apps have been only a single tap away rather than 10 to 20. And that has literally made a world of difference.

Now, can someone please assign me that story on how to make free calls on a smartphone again?

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Mini Smartphone New Trend Growing

Mini Smartphone is becoming the new trend: Today, choosing a smartphone suit also try shoes like that. 4 inch screen, 4.5 inch or 5 inch fits most. 

For many years the trend in screen size smartphone the bigger the better. 

iPhone 5 long more than enough space to add an application store Android phones are more bloated located between the boundary smartphone Tablet.

But recently, this trend seems to be reversing. Samsung and BlackBerry launched miniature versions of smartphone while leading Apple and HTC rumored preparing similar actions. 

Samsung Miniature Galaxy S4 4.3 inch screen instead of the 5 inch screen of the Galaxy S4. BlackBerry smaller Q5 Q10 but not using the technology of 2012.

One factor behind the wave mini smartphone growth smartphone slowdown in developed markets such as the U.S. Western Europe and new markets are developing the future of the phone company but here consumer sensitivity to price.

The large screen can increase smartphone significantly so the smaller equipment vendors smartphone small as Huawei, ZTE and Lenovo extremely popular in emerging areas. iPhone is no longer in the list 5 smartphone Chinese bestseller.

According to analysts the big smartphone have recognized the problem and started to fight back wave  mini smartphone debuted in 2013. However, they doubt the leading brands really understand the message. The screen size is not as important as price.

The big telephone companies in China are focused on producing equipment for under 350 USD. Samsung S4 Galaxy Mini is sold in the UK but the price to 530 dollars, it's $ 600 cheaper than the Galaxy S4 but that is not enough.

That's why Ryan Reith, senior analyst with research firm IDC said Samsung launches miniature device moves just testing. When the market smartphone are becoming saturated the company will target multiple objects and attack every price range.

Market smartphone style is not one size fit all. Some people want smaller phones because they have small hands or want to fit in your pocket. Others just want to use the smartphone for watching movies playing games should need a larger screen.

According to rumors Appleis preparing to launch a new smaller iPhone model. If the iPhone mini actually appears this will be a step in sharp contrast to the usual way of Apple While the company focuses on high end segment.

However, already 6 years since apple defect to enter the market competition is stronger than ever before Apple should offer 2 or more products for customers to choose.

Als, make sure the screen costs are decreasing. 5 inch device is expected to be consistent with low-level segment from 2014 onwards.

Apple's App Store turns five: You're great, now change

What a difference five years makes.

Apple's App Store has a lot to brag about as it celebrates its fifth birthday on Wednesday. Over the last half decade, it helped fully realize the Swiss army-capabilities of the smartphone, which could do far more than make phone calls and browse the Internet. While not the first, it set the standard for mobile application marketplaces to come. The best part: it made apps accessible to everyone.

'Nothing like the App Store existed before and it has fundamentally changed the world,' Apple Chief Executive Tim Cook said last month, describing the store's launch at the company's yearly developer conference ahead of today's anniversary.

But things have changed since the App Store was first introduced by the late Steve Jobs, and Google Play has surpassed the App Store when it comes to sheer number of available apps. While Apple's App Store has always been home to the hottest big-name apps, its success over the next five years may be shaped by how well it can foster apps both big and small.

'It winds up being a popularity contest rather than people finding the content that they want,' said Brian Blau, Gartner's research director of consumer technology. Users are exposed to the top few thousand most popular apps, he added, so apps must compete for rankings or to get promoted as, say, a staff favorite. That disenfranchises all the apps without brand recognition or marketing firepower.

For now, Apple has a lot of impressive numbers to tout. Its App Store has surpassed 50 billion apps downloaded, with 900,000 programs available. Apple brags it's paid out $10 billion to developers, testament that it pays to work with the company even as it takes a 30 percent cut of sales.

Apple has done a great job attracting the developers, Blau points out, by being the leader for developer revenues.

As a result, the iPhone franchise remains the envy of the smartphone industry, even as rival Samsung Electronics has made significant headway with its own flagship Galaxy S family of phones. In the U.S., iPhone sales still dominate, fueled at least in part by the breadth of apps.

What Apple did differently It's easy to forget that Apple wasn't the first app marketplace. The App Store had precursors from the likes of Palm, Microsoft and Salesforce.com's AppExchange. Jobs was friendly with Salesforce.com founder and CEO Marc Benioff, who had already taken over the 'appstore' domain and trademark. When the time came for Apple to launch its App Store, Benioff gifted them to Jobs in a gesture of gratitude for Jobs advice to his team years before.

But Apple did something different with its App Store: it made it accessible to everyone. By offering the apps in a single, simple store, and making it easy to download and run programs, Apple sparked a new market. Sure, BlackBerrys and Windows Mobile phones could download their own apps, but users had to dig for them at different Web sites, and there was no real guarantee they would work well.

Apple, however, kept a tight rein on the kind of apps it would approve, and even offered its recommendations. It was a safe and convenient place for smartphone users who didn't want to deal with the headaches of downloading programs on other mobile platforms.

Analyst Al Hilwa, director of Applications Development Software at IDC, called Apple's idea of integrating a store into iTunes, which was already providing a tracking content and handling transactions for music, one of the strokes of genius that contributed to the success of the iPhone. Opening the platform up for app developers was another brilliant move, he said. iOS remains popular with developers not just because it's lucrative but also because of the simplicity of building for one line of smartphones.

While older smartphone marketplaces had an array of rudimentary games and business apps, Apple's App Store opened the door to all kinds of different programs. All of a sudden, fart apps were making a small fortune as users were eager to find new and innovative ways to use their smartphones. Games such as Rovio's Angry Birds became a phenomenon, with the franchise marked as a must-have for any mobile platform.

'The app store is a real reason for Shazam's success,' said Rich Riley, CEO of the music-recognition app maker. 'A lot of that is because the app store makes it so easy to find it, download it and update it.'

Pandora, the second most downloaded free app on the App Store behind Facebook, credits Apple for greatly changing the trajectory of the company. For three years before the App Store, Pandora was confined to the desktop and was 'a shadow of the bigger vision,' said Chief Technology Officer Tom Conrad. From day one of the App Store, Conrad said, the company realized this is the way Pandora is meant to be consumed.

The App Store's success spawned imitators, some successful (Google Play), while others quietly faded away (Palm and WebOS). Windows Phone has its Marketplace, while BlackBerry has its App World.

Competition heats up Apple has long touted the number of apps available to its iOS devices, but it can no longer claim the title of largest app store. Google Play boasts 975,000 apps, edging out the App Store. It too has seen more than 50 billion app downloads.

It's no surprise the Google Play has exploded, thanks to the aggressive adoption and promotion of Google's Android platform, which was widely embraced by the carriers that didn't have exclusive deals to sell the iPhone. In the U.S., while AT&T dominated smartphone sales with the iPhone, Verizon Wireless, T-Mobile and Sprint rallied behind Android and Google Play's predecessor, the Android Marketplace.

Android is the top smartphone operating system in the world, far outstripping Apple's iOS, according to market data.

Android's runaway expansion and its open-ended adaptability for multiple smartphone makers come at a price. The fragmented nature of the platform can make it more complicated and costly to build for, which is one reason most apps launch on App Store first with Android to follow.

IDC analyst Hilwa noted where Android apps must span multiple versions of the platform, Apple apps have one; where the number of Android apps shops is in the triple digits, App Store is Apple's only game in town. That's why Apple customers spend the most on content and apps, he said

Help for the little guy But with the number of apps in App Store's inventory approaching a billion, that leaves a giant swath fighting for -- and seldom winning -- the spotlight.

Derek Lamberton's apps, and those like his, 'just get sort of lost underneath the pile,' he said. The independent app creator's company Blue Crow Media specializes in city guide apps. His best-selling one is London's Best Coffee, which is consistently in the top 10 for the food and drink category.

'All my apps at this stage will hit the top ten when they launch, but unless there is a serious social media effort...it's really really hard to get new users,' he said.

Even with top-tier exposure, the halo effect is brief. The New York Times twice highlighted a Lamberton's Craft Beer New York app, and it would give him a big spike in sales the day immediately following. But after the one-off jump to 250 or so downloads, the norm of five to 10 a day quickly returned.

'I see it again and again, developers don't want to release their download numbers because I think because they're ashamed,' he said. 'Outside of super games, there isn't a lot of money to be made.'

The future Lamberton's challenges show how Apple can be a victim of its own success as it embarks on its next five years of App Store.

As big as App Store has become, the 'wander the aisles' method of app discovery doesn't work anymore, Pandora's Conrad said. 'Looking forward, the big opportunities in the App Store are to move beyond this merchandised, best-seller based browsing model' to search relevance.

Last year, Apple purchased app search and discovery company Chomp only to quietly close it down within months. On its own, Chomp was an alternate search website for Apple's App Store and, later, Google's Android platform, that retrieved results based on app function, not name. Despite the takeover stoking expectations of app discovery improvement to come, Apple never integrated Chomp's search tools in the App Store.

The upshot is users have a hard time finding the exact app they're looking for. And unless they're blessed with a name like Facebook or a big marketing warchest, developers struggle to find their audience.

While Apple wouldn't provide anyone to talk for this story, Apple iTunes chief Eddy Cue said at WWDC last month that Apple is working on making app discovery better. The company has added a feature that finds apps based on age range so parents can find apps for kids, and it has launched Apps Near Me, which finds most popular apps in a smartphone's location.

But even that improvement relies on the same thing Apple always has for app discovery: popularity.

Gartner's Blau, noting that Apple hasn't done much to help the apps in its universe that are hobbled simply by obscurity, said the change will have to come from within.

'This is something only Apple can fix.'

This article originally appeared on CNET.



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