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Posts tagged with "app store"

Apple Showcasing “Great AirPlay Apps” In The App Store

With the release of iOS 4.3, Apple enabled third-party developers to implement the AirPlay streaming technology in their apps, a feature that was previously exclusive to Apple’s own software on iOS 4.2. On the new iOS 4.3, not only does Safari allow you to stream video content from the browser to an Apple TV, developers also got the possibility to use the AirPlay APIs (after several requests) in their applications. Apps like Air Video or StreamToMe greatly benefit from the addition of AirPlay without any manual hacking.

To celebrate the new feature for all developers, Apple has put up a section on the App Store to showcase the first apps that make great use of AirPlay. “AirPlay-Enabled Apps” collects 11 different apps that have been updated to support wireless streaming, The list includes the VEVO Player, Air Video, ESPN Magazine, and Discovery Channel HD. All these apps let you beam video from your iOS device to the Apple TV in your local network.

You can find the section here, and we hope Apple will soon update it to feature more great apps for the iPhone and iPad. The problem? If you have a Verizon iPhone you might be out of luck.

Flickpad Pro 2.4 Launches: Visual Updates & The Return of Flickr Explore Grid

Flickpad is an immersive way to browse Flickr and Facebook photos with flickering fingers, and the latest Flickpad update brings an update interface (new app icon and wood background), introduces advanced search capabilities, and brings back Flickr Explore in a grid-tastic format. We reviewed Flickpad a while ago, and it’s still a fantastic way to browse through photos by flicking them off the screen, browsing the latest photos as a slideshow, and to comment on inspiring photographs. You can download Flickpad Pro on your iPad for only $0.99 from the App Store.

Australian Government Wants To Classify Mobile Games

The Australian Government has today revealed that it plans to enforce a classification of review of any mobile games (and possibly apps) that are referred to the Australian Classification Board after a complaint. Any app referred for review would have to receive a rating of MA15+ or lower to remain on sale legally in Australia.

The Government has said that if the proposal goes through it would force Apple and Google to comply by removing any app that is banned by the Classification Board as well as ensuring that any app that has gone through classification would have its classification displayed for consumers to see.

Currently there is ambiguity over classifying new online content including mobile apps for the iPhone or for Google’s Android OS in Australia with some suggesting that technically every game should be classified, an impossible feat with the number of apps in the App Store alone. The new proposal by the Home Affairs Minister would only require classification of game apps that the Classification Board receive complaints about and the Minister believes that there would be “very, very few games” that would be refused classification (banned).

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Explor: It’s Like Ping, For Apps

I’ve never been a loyal user of “app discovery” tools for iOS: I’m talking about those apps that help you find out about new apps and share the results with your friends. Sort of meta, I know, but apparently there’s a huge market for these things now that the iOS App Store has crossed the mark of 300,000 apps available for the iPhone. In the sea of applications that’s inundating our inboxes, it seems like there’s plenty of room for alternatives to the default App Store app.

Explor, a free app by Hello,Chair released today, is the latest (and possibly greatest) addition to iOS software discovery panorama that comes with interesting features I haven’t seen anywhere else. Read more

Ustream Updates iPhone App, Broadcast And Chat All At Once

Since I might (and that is a huge might) be using Ustream’s latest app on Friday to broadcast my adventure to the Apple Store and the line craziness, I figured I’d give all of you Apple iPad 2 buyers the heads-up on Ustream 2.0, which launched late February but was drowned out in the sea of MacBook news and iPad 2 rumors. Ustream was used extensively by Engadget during their last meet-up, and it worked out incredibly well. Ustream is bringing everything together in the 2.0 release so you can record, talk to peeps in the chat room, share content with friends on Facebook and Twitter, and you can customize Ustream’s menu so you have all of your favorite features right at your fingertips. The app also defaults to an audio stream when your connection is poor, but Ustream is looking into a way to gracefully degrade the quality of the video stream instead. It’s a free download in the App Store, so if you have a Ustream account and want to clog Verizon’s or AT&T’s network with iPad 2 launch shenanigans, join me in downloading the latest update from the App Store.

[Ustream Blog via TechCrunch]

An Artist’s Tool: Learn Music & Train Your Ear With Capo

Capo is one of the brilliant Mac apps that often gets overlooked because of its niche value for musicians that have the will to not just follow tabs on a reading sheet, but to actually tear apart songs and learn them by ear. Capo intrinsically is an odd product in this respect – if you’re learning music by ear, why do you need an aid? I’ll tell ya: there’s nothing like being able to scribble all over a song, create your own tabs, and actually study what’s in front of you. You might want to fondle iTunes as you replay parts and study tracks, but you can ditch the pen and paper as you mark an important bridge, analyze the song’s chord progression, and figure out new riffs.

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TinyVox Is A Social Tape Deck For Your iPhone

We typically don’t do audio recordings in replacement or in conjunction with our written reviews, but I’ll make an exception. TinyVox is a very cool social tape deck for your iPhone or iPod touch that enables you to record audio in high or low quality, then publish those audio bits to social networking sites like Facebook, Tumblr, and Twitter.

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Localscope Is Perfect For iPod Or iPhone

It doesn’t matter whether a GPS signal is available to know what restaurants are nearby, or where the next gas station is. In fact, I’d easily trade Localscope for Google’s Places on Android (and who wants Hotpot when you have Facebook?). You’re never tethered to a single source of information with Google, Bing, Foursquare, Twitter, and Wikimapia for a combination of maps, current events, and augmented reality. Talk about holy wowza! And the thing is, Localscope is incredibly pretty. It’s the iPhone companion you’ll want on your homescreen if not in a nearby folder, and we’re going to run through some of the features that make this client worth its weight in bacon.

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Rovio CEO Thanks Apple, New Angry Birds Games This Summer→

Rovio CEO Thanks Apple, New Angry Birds Games This Summer

At the Game Developers Conference 2011 in San Francisco, Rovio CEO Peter Vesterbacka spoke to a large crowd about the success of his company’s franchise, Angry Birds, and the results of going from developing games for others (they used to do work for hire) to having millions of people downloading your own mobile game. Vesterbacka thanked Apple for creating the App Store model and disrupting the Soviet-like market that was imposed by carriers years ago.

We really have Apple to thank,” said Vesterbacka – not just for helping to promote Angry Birds, but for creating the App Store to begin with.

“We got away from this carrier-dominated Soviet model,” he explained – before the App Store, the carriers were responsible for figuring out what software would run on their phones. “Other people decided on our behalf what was a good game and what was a bad game,” Vesterbacka said.

As for new entries in the Angry Birds world:

You won’t have to wait too long,” said Vesterbacka – Rovio plans to release new Angry Birds games this summer.

Angry Birds Rio is set to come out on March 22, and an update to Angry Birds Seasons was released a few weeks ago. Here’s my theory: does the fact that Vesterbacka is in San Francisco and that Apple’s iPad 2 event is tomorrow sound interesting to you?

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