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Posts tagged app
Apple bring the App Store dream to the desktop
Jan 13th
Apple have opened their new ‘Mac App Store’ for business. For those of you who use an iPhone or any similar smartphone, you will know that the ‘App Store’ is a marketplace for the quick purchase and download of mobile applications. It would seem the quick and easy process of purchasing new software has proven very profitable for Apple, as they have now brought the concept to their Mac desktop operating system.
After running a software update, Mac users will find a new App Store icon on their Dock. The Mac App Store is already quite well populated, with the most prominent offers being the Apple iLife and iWork suites. iLife consists of photo organisation, music production and video production software, whereas iWork is an office suite which provides word processing, multimedia presentation and spreadsheet software. Previously you would have to purchase each suite in its entirety, costing upwards of £60. But the App Store allows users to download the components of each suite separately for £9-12, depending on the software – a bargain!
Other popular items on the App Store include the official Twitter desktop client, ‘Twitter for Mac’, and a desktop adaptation of the popular mobile game ‘Angry Birds’.
Users may More >
Apple remove unofficial WikiLeaks iPhone app from App Store, claim it is “harmful”
Dec 22nd
A developer who created an unofficial app that accessed content from the controversial whistle-blowing website WikiLeaks has had their app removed the iOS App Store by Apple. The cheeky developer was charging $1.99 for access to the US embassy cables being issued by WikiLeaks, which can be accessed free of charge online through various ‘mirror’ sites.
Apple have released a statement saying the app was pulled for not complying with local laws and not ensuring that individuals and groups were kept out of “harm’s way”, possibly referencing allegations by the US government that the leaks are endangering American diplomats and military services around the world.
This move comes after PayPal, everyDNS, Bank of America and Amazon have all terminated services they provide to WikiLeaks, prompting controversial online organisation ‘Anonymous’ to mount DDoS cyber-attacks against some of their websites.
Julian Assange, the leader and founder of WikiLeaks, is on bail in the UK and appealing against extradition to Sweden for rape allegations. You can find out more about the story so far in the special report on the BBC News website. See our other posts about WikiLeaks here.
Social media giant Facebook announces Single Sign-on, Places API, Deals, Mobile App Updates
Nov 4th
Popular social network Facebook announced a torrent of updates to its mobile products, namely four things: single sign-on, opening up its Places API, allowing businesses to attach deals to their Facebook Place page, and updates to its iPhone and Android apps.
Single Sign-on
Facebook are seeking to limit the amount of typing of long passwords and usernames that a user has to go through inside mobile apps by allowing integration with Facebook in a similar way to what you may see on many websites that you visit. People with the Facebook app installed on their smartphone will be able to log in to other mobile apps using their Facebook account, no giving up of private credentials necessary.
The Places API
Developers can now access the popular Places product to utilise in their own apps and websites. Places is a location based tools that allows Facebook users to ‘check in’ at locations and tag their friends, in a similar vein to location based social networks like Foursquare and Gowalla. The API allows developers to link their own products to this tool so that, for example, Foursquare check ins could be duplicated to Facebook Places. Developers will be able to read data from the tool, write More >
Android Market Surpasses 100,000 Apps
Oct 26th
Android (Android) has just rocketed past a major milestone: 100,000 applications available in the Android Marketplace.
The announcement was made with just a tweet from the Android Dev Twitter account. “One hundred thousand apps in Android Market,” was all the tweet needed to say to spread the news. The search giant recently expanded the Android Marketplace to 20+ countries in an effort to kick its developer ecosystem in high gear.
Google’s open-source mobile OS has been on a tear, but its rapid growth has come at the cost of OS fragmentation across hundreds of devices. And while Android may be flooding the market at breakneck speed, Apple’s iOS App Store is the dominant mobile store by leaps and bounds. There are more than 280,000 iOS apps available, nearly triple the offerings on Android.
Do you think Android can catch upwith Google?
Skype Arrives on Android
Oct 5th
Skype is now available on devices running Android 2.1 or later.
The app allows users to make Skype-to-Skype calls (only over Wi-Fi in the U.S.), as well as send and receive IMs, all for free. Calls to phones are charged according to Skype’s published rates. If you already have a Skype account, you’ll instantly be able to access your contact list on your Android device after logging in.
Android users can install Skype at skype.com/mor via the Android Market.