Apple has just approved Windows Live Messenger for iPhone, which is available for free in the App Store.
Microsoft Releases Windows Live Messenger for iPhone
Canabalt, Now Native on iPad
Canabalt, one of the most popular games available for the iPhone, has just been updated and it’s now a universal application that can run natively on the iPad.
The update comes with iOS 4 bug fixes and a new soundtrack by Danny Baranowsky. For those unfamiliar with Canabalt, it’s a very addictive game which features retro-pixel graphics, and you just have to run avoiding obstacles and jumping from one building to another. It’s one of my favorite games in the App Store.
Available at $2.99, free update for previous customers.
Kindle Book Store to Lose Ground to Apple
While the Kindle has been an amazing accomplishment in paving the way for e-books, its time has seemingly passed. Citi analyst Mark Mahaney predicts that the Apple iBookstore will surpass Amazon’s service as the selection gets bigger and Apple sells more iPads. Electronista writes,
“Although not mentioned by Mahaney, Amazon also faces concern over the exposure of the Kindle reader and store versus Apple’s devices.”
As iBooks will begin opening doors on iPod touches and the new iPhone 4 starting next week, Apple will have a prominent advantage in simply outselling Amazon. The sheer amount of iBooks compatible devices, coupled with iBookstore integration with pre-existing iTunes accounts, makes purchasing e-books incredibly convenient. For the value of the Kindle compared to the iPad, consumers looking for an e-book platform may feel they’re getting more bang for their buck with Apple’s portable computer. Quite quickly, Apple is set to dominate yet another electronic market.
[via Electronista]
Folio Case Winners Announced
Thanks to everyone who entered our Folio Case giveaway. We also want to thank Alexander Repty for the licenses he offered to MacStories readers.
Here are the winners:
Todd Jordan
Thomly
Mathias Uslar
Congratulations! You’ll receive the promo code in your inbox in a few hours. Stay tuned for other giveaways coming this week.
Scribd: User Engagement Surges After Dumping Flash
For those unfamiliar with Scribd, it’s an excellent social networking tool designed to get people talking about written materials – documents, comics, books – they’re all there. Lately they’ve been undergoing the arduous process of freeing themselves completely of Adobe Flash, and as they wipe away the last remaining remnants, the results have been dramatic.
CEO Trip Adler reports that user engagement, “Has surged.” Scribd isn’t saying their user base is increasing, rather, their pre-existing user base (50 million unique visitors) are spending a substantially greater amount of time searching for documents and sharing materials with friends.
Banned iPad and iPhone 4 Promo Videos
Moodagent, Tweeb, MoneyBook Winners Announced
Thanks everyone who entered our giveaways in the past week. We’d also like to thank all the developers who offered their products to MacStories readers, so be sure to drop a “thank you” in case you’ve won something!
Anyway, you’ll find the winners after the break. Congratulations!
Folio Case for iPad, A Beautiful PDF Reader. Review and Giveaway!
Folio Case received a ton of buzz yesterday as it launched on the iTunes App Store, garnering the attention of thousands of iPad owners looking to download the perfect PDF reader. While the timing is unfortunate as an updated iBooks will offer native PDF viewing in iOS 4, Folio Case should be fairly acclaimed as the iPad’s most elegant solution for displaying PDF files yet. It doesn’t offer functionality pursued by power users such as highlighting, searching, or even bookmarking, but it does present a minimal reading experience, characterized by the page metaphor.
Life Web Browser: Yet Another Alternative to Safari?
So many developers have tried to build alternative browsers for the iPhone on top of Webkit. See, Apple gives you the tools to create your own customized browser, and I’m not blaming them for the attempt. I’m blaming them for the experience they failed to achieve, developing alternatives just for the sake of it. And people, the average App Store users, seem to appreciate this trend, perhaps because they’re willing to accept every single alternative some devs give them. Look at the success of Opera Mini for iPhone, and look at how bad it is when you compare it to Apple’s MobileSafari.
What I’m trying to say is, you don’t mess with MobileSafari. Sure you can try to add thousands of features, and you can also promote your app by saying that it does whatever MobileSafari doesn’t. Seriously, it’s fine. But you can’t really think someone won’t notice and eventually talk about your crap. That’s why we usually avoid to talk about these “alternative browsers” on MacStories.
Developers are now realizing that, with 2 million iPads out there, the tablet might indeed be a profitable market for “alternatives”. I won’t go into all the details, but just so you know - this thing has been the top paid iPad app for days. Is it possible to develop a decent alternative to Safari for iPad?
Let’s look for the answer in Life.