Apple’s App Store has had unprecedented success since its release in July of 2008. 2011 marks the App Store’s 3rd birthday, and it looks like Apple will celebrate by hitting 10,000,000,000 downloads. The App Store has averaged over 3 billion downloads per year since 2008. As a comparison, it took iTunes 8 years to reach that same level of success.
In fact, just last year, iTunes celebrated in the same fashion with its own 10 billion downloads countdown. The lucky person that downloaded the 10 billionth song received a $10,000 iTunes gift card.
The one billionth App Store app was downloaded in April of 2009, which shows exponential growth for Apple’s platform. As the numbers approach 10 billion, another iTunes user will be lucky enough to receive a $10,000 iTunes gift card…
Apple’s countdown page displays a live, running tally of the apps that have been downloaded from the App Store. You can sit and watch as hundreds of apps are downloaded each second.
To be entered in the contest for the $10,000 iTunes gift card, you must fill out this entry form. If you download the 10 billionth app, you’ll be the winner. While the odds of winning are probably as good as winning the lottery, it’s still free to enter and worth a shot.
It’s unclear as to whether Apple is including duplicate downloads, updates, or free and paid apps in this countdown, but still, the numbers are staggering.
When you sit back and think about the success of the App Store, it can be easy to start feeling nostalgic. Do you remember the first app you ever downloaded from the App Store?
One of the problems with using the iPhone 4 on an unofficial carrier is you lose the ability to FaceTime. Enter MiTime. MiTime is an application available for jailbroken iPhones that activates FaceTime on unlocked iPhone 4s that are running on unofficial/unsupported carriers, such as T-Mobile USA.
The app was first introduced back in August of 2010 and now it has been updated with support for iOS 4.1 and 4.2.1. It works by sending two international SMS messages to activate FaceTime. It is currently the only way to activate FaceTime on unofficial carriers, and in my opinion, it’s definitely worth it.
Follow the guide below to activate FaceTime on your unlocked iPhone 4…
If you’re operating on an unofficial carrier (such as T-Mobile USA), you will need to fully activate your iPhone 4. To do this you must install SAM from Cydia. If your iPhone is already activated with SAM, skip to step 5.
Step 1: Install SAM (Subscriber Artificial Module) on your jailbroken iPhone. To do this, launch Cydia, go to Manage > Sources > Edit > Add, and type in: http://repo.bingner.com
Tap on Add Source.
Step 2: After you have added the source, Go to “Search”, and type in “SAM”. Download and install.
Step 3: Once installed, go to Settings > SAM > De-Activate. You will get a message that your iPhone is De-Activated. Now, Tap on Revert Lock Down.
Step 4: Connect your iPhone via USB and launch iTunes. Once you get a Message that your iPhone is Activated, then you are fully activated with iTunes.
Step 5: From the homescreen, Launch Cydia, go to Manage > Sources > Edit > Add, and type in: http://cydia.pushfix.info
Tap on Add Source
Step 6: After you have added the source, go to “Search”, and type in “MiTime”. Download and install.
Step 7: Launch MiTime, Tap on Agree – You will notice that MiTime will start collecting data and will show you a message that it’s compatible, and FaceTime activation is possible.
NOTE: You must be able to receive and send international text messages. Additional fees may apply.
Step 8: Note down the purchase code, head over to http://mitime.info/purchase, enter the Purchase code, then click on Verify & Purchase and complete the transaction.
Step 9: Once MiTime is purchased, relaunch MiTime. It should say ‘Activated’ & ‘MiTime Purchased’ (pictured below).
You can now FaceTime with your family and Friends using your unlocked iPhone 4!
Here are some notes from the developer of MiTime:
Once purchased, you can change SIMs or phones 3 times and still be recognized as a purchaser, but you can’t change both SIM & phone at same time. If you change both at the same time, please contact me on twitter or respond to the Paypal email receipt with information about your situation (or please consider re-purchasing).
Have you used MiTime before? How did it work for you?
Developer: ANT HIVE GAMES
Price: $2.99
Version Reviewed: 1.0
Device Reviewed On: iPad
Graphics / Sound Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
Game Controls Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
Gameplay Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
Replay Value Rating: 5 out of 5 stars Overall Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
The Line HD shows that there are some new ideas out there for games – that there is some hope for something that can shift the paradigm, if only a little. At its heart, The Line HD is a hybrid of a platforming game and touchy-feely character manipulation game (think Lemmings as an archetype of this sort of gameplay), but it is well-imagined, designed and implemented. In short, it’s the sort of indie game that Apple’s App Store ecosystem thrives on.
In The Line HD you control – guess what? – a line! Not just any line, however, but one named Eddy who arises from a typical line on the screen like some benign boil or pimple – only cuter. Your job is to help Eddy get from the starting point to the end point on each of several puzzle levels by using a virtual pencil, eraser and Eddy’s special fire and ice powers. The pencil allows you, with some limitations, to create new lines for Eddy to travel on. These can bridge small gaps or connect larger segments of the puzzle, but each line has a limit in length that cannot be changed. The eraser does exactly what you think it does – it allows you t oerase sections of the puzzle to help Eddy get to his goal faster or avoid one of the many hazards he faces along his journey. Tapping the fire icon speeds Eddy up (necessary to avoid traps in later puzzles) and the ice icon freezes our little friend/line/pimple/thingie in place to keep him out of harm’s way.
The presentation of The Line HD may seem spare and unimpressive at first, but I actually thought of it as actively embracing Apple’s overall design scheme of elegant simplicity. Music and sound effects are spot-on and clever, and the visual design never pulls focus away from the primary goal of saving Eddy and getting him to the next obstacle.
The game has a learning curve, so be warned that you’re going to need to chuck some of your preconceived notions of how logic puzzles must be approached. I struggled even with the very first level – not because it is badly designed, mind you – just because it took a while for me to see how Eddy’s line-world works. Once you get the hang of it, it’s great fun and a real logical challenge.
So here’s to a new year and to games from developers such as this, who continue to push the boundaries of what a game can and should be. The Line HD will draw you in; no doubt about it.
Developer: Cherry-Design
Price: $1.99
Version: 1.0.0
App Reviewed on: iPad
iPhone Integration Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
User Interface Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars
Re-use Value Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars Overall Rating: 3.33 out of 5 stars
When your work is billed by the hour, or even minute, it becomes ever more important to keep track of the time you spend working. This is such an important part of many companies revenue stream that there are paper pads dedicated to helping people record their time. Task Tracker is looking to change how people record their time one quick tap at a time.
Task Tracker is essentially a timer app for up to 15 projects. It is as easy as adding in a project and project description, tapping the play button, and slaving away on your work. When you are done, either hit the pause button to stop the timer on your current task, or hit the stop button to signal the task is completed. You can even add in task names and descriptions to help you when you go to write up your bill. So much for pencils and erasers.
The interface for Task Tracker is easy to navigate. You can have 15 timers all running at once, though that would be some serious multitasking. The timers continue to run even when the app is sent to the background. A nice touch is a little number displaying in the upper right hand corner of the app icon to let you know just how many timers you have running. This really does make time tracking a breeze.
The one area that could use some improvement is in the tasks within each project. Pausing the timer will stop timing you for your current task. Hitting the stop button ends timing for that specific task. The issue lies in adding time to an earlier task. You cannot choose a task like database design and continue to add your billable time to it. You must create a new task. On the flipside, the app does display dates for each task. It does mean you have to do a bit of mathematical work if you just want to submit on line item displaying work done on one specific task.
If you have a need to track your billable time on projects, or just want to time how long it takes you to complete your latest work of art, this app makes it nice and easy to do. Being able to add time to specific tasks would be nice, but that is a minor gripe.
Developer: Satellite2
Price: $0.99
Version Reviewed: 1.01
Graphics / Sound Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
Game Controls Rating: 3.85 out of 5 stars
Gameplay Rating: 3.7 out of 5 stars
Re-use / Replay Value Rating: 2.75 out of 5 stars
Overall Rating: 3.58 out of 5 stars
If you’ve played StarDunk, you’ve played Dunk It, as they are so similar it hurts. The only problem is that Dunk It strips out the massive online multiplayer mode and the awesome assortment of balls that do a variety of things, leaving you with an Adult Swim inspired basketball based physics game.
The goal of Dunk It, like StarDunk, is to fire your basketball into the hoop. Unlike StarDunk, your ball is attached to one of 4 characters, all of which function exactly the same but have different grunting sounds for when they fall to the ground in bone crunching fashion. The graphics are fun, there are three game types to play through (although all have the same game mechanics), and aiming for high scores is exciting, but there is a lot of room for growth here.
Just looking at StarDunk for comparison, there are dozens of things that you can to with different basketballs and even more things you can do with player attributes. Double bounces, long range aiming, multiballs; there are countless variations to go through. As a dunk contest game, why not add some style to the dunks too? Would adding a backflip or a long range 1080 degree dunk instead of the standard swish be that hard? In my eyes, I see basketball and I see cartoon, so get creative.
The way it is, Dunk It is a pretty decent value at 99 cents. It’s not a good of a game as StarDunk, the game it clones, but it has its own style, and the style works well for the genre. If you’re a fan of wacky animation and cartoonish characters, and don’t want to play with a ton of other online players, give this one a try.
The Line HD shows that there are some new ideas out there for games – that there is some hope for something that can shift the paradigm, if only a little. At its heart, The Line HD is a hybrid of a platforming game and touchy-feely character manipulation game (think Lemmings as an archetype of this sort of gameplay), but it is well-imagined, designed and implemented. In short, it’s the sort of indie game that Apple’s App Store ecosystem thrives on.
The presentation of The Line HD may seem spare and unimpressive at first, but I actually thought of it as actively embracing Apple’s overall design scheme of elegant simplicity. Music and sound effects are spot-on and clever, and the visual design never pulls focus away from the primary goal of saving Eddy and getting him to the next obstacle. 
The goal of Dunk It, like StarDunk, is to fire your basketball into the hoop. Unlike StarDunk, your ball is attached to one of 4 characters, all of which function exactly the same but have different grunting sounds for when they fall to the ground in bone crunching fashion. The graphics are fun, there are three game types to play through (although all have the same game mechanics), and aiming for high scores is exciting, but there is a lot of room for growth here.
Comments