“I’m just wondering why your marketing group can’t do something to try to rein in this next generation, because you’ve got a real bad image out there.”

So said a Microsoft shareholder to CEO Steve Ballmer at the company’s shareholder meeting yesterday. TechFlash reporter Todd Bishop notes that the same shareholder added that Apple’s TV commercials make Microsoft look “like a buffoon.”

I’m relieved to hear this. I often look at Microsoft and wonder if its shareholders are as out-of-touch as the company itself seems to be. In just the last few weeks here’s what’s getting the most enthusiastic coverage in the tech press at a time when it ought to be 100 percent about the newly launched Windows 7.

• A Microsoft manager claiming Windows 7 — Microsoft’s flagship product — is inspired by Mac OS X
• Chief Software Architect Ray Ozzie’s bewildering assertion that “apps don’t matter” — despite everyone else on Earth knowing otherwise
• Further redundancies that include long-time evangelist Don Dodge, and his subsequent post that, now that he’s free from Microsoft, he can admit, yeah, he has iPhone envy
• And let’s not forget the bizarre PR misfire that saw the staff of Microsoft’s flagship retail store ignoring their customers for a full five minutes in favor of stomping their way, awkwardly and embarrassingly, through a dance routine

The take-home message? It ain’t just the Apple commercials making Microsoft look like buffoons.

How did CEO Steve Ballmer respond? Fear not, anxious shareholders, Ballmer has this to say to assuage your fears and calm your nerves:

You take any country, including this one, and you say, how are we doing? The truth of the matter is, we do quite well. Even among college students, we do quite well. Do we have an opportunity for improvement? We do. Some of that is marketing some of that is phase of life. It is important to remember that 96 times out of 100 worldwide, people choose a PC with Windows, that’s a good thing. Even in the toughest market, which would be the high end of the consumer market here in the U.S., 83 times out of 100 people choose a Windows PC over a Mac.

Hang on, back-up. “Some of that is phase of life.” Phase of life? Well, Ballmer sure knows his execu-speak. What galls me about this is how it illustrates perfectly that while Microsoft may be doomed to continue making embarrassing mistakes, it probably won’t suffer any actual harm as a result; it survives simply because of its mammoth install base. Nothing more than that. And that simple fact directly influences the attitude and reasoning of its CEO. Ballmer is tacitly admitting that, all things considered, yeah, Microsoft looks like a bunch of idiots but that doesn’t matter because they’ve got more customers than anyone else.

Turn this around, and imagine that Apple does monumentally silly things that make it the target of much derision and ridicule among the tech community and consumers. Imagine you’re a shareholder, and you see a drop in quarterly earnings. You see the company laying off staff (including highly visible and respected staff they should keep). You see its executives sending conflicting messages to the public. And when you take them to task for it, Steve Jobs replies “Yeah, we’ve been a bit crap. But most people own an iPod, right, so, no worries.” Would you be satisfied with that?

Ballmer added:

Frankly, the economy is good for us, because people do understand that Macintoshes are quite a bit more expensive for essentially the same computer … we have opportunities to improve among exactly the constituency that you identify.

Yep. Be happy there’s a recession, people, or else customers would be buying Macs!

This isn’t actually a Microsoft bashing exercise (clearly, it does that to itself and needs no help from me). Instead, I look at this and wonder (fear) that Apple might be headed in much the same direction. Recent unpredictable behavior around the application approval process has seen Apple severely criticised by some of its most staunch supporters. Developers aren’t just frustrated, they’re now quitting the platform altogether. And not because the platform is flawed, but because Apple is horribly (and very visibly) mismanaging it.

Apple needs to take a good long look at the Microsoft of today and ask if it isn’t starting to make the same mistake; stubbornly pushing ahead with flawed policies/strategies that are justified on the strength of product market share alone, despite the obvious (and loud!) protestations of the public, the press, and sooner or later, even its own shareholders.

Sure, Apple isn’t as bad as Microsoft yet. But this is how it starts, people. Google Voicegate. Joe Hewitt. Rogue Amoeba. It’s not exactly dancing in an Apple Store, but it’s still embarrassing and potentially damaging, and it’s definitely a trend that won’t go away unless Apple does something to fix it.

I’ve had a rant building up for a few weeks. A rant about developer’s treatment at the hands of the App Store submission procedure. However unlike many rants on the topic, mine is not directed towards Apple. It is directed towards the iPhone developers who complain about the poor, unfair treatment they get, carrying their bleeding hearts in their palms while claiming Apple is bludgeoning the life out of them.

Two recent news headlines, seemingly separate, are intrinsically tied together and the synergy of them have made my eyes dislocated from the continued rolling they involuntarily perform.

The first headline, Facebook Developer Turns Back on iPhone relates how another high-profile developer has thrown their hands up in disgust over how Apple’s closed system runs against their principles. A direct quote from Joe Hewitt, developer of the popular Facebook application can be found on TechCrunch, and is most relevant. I will come back to this later:

I respect their right to manage their platform however they want, however I am philosophically opposed to the existence of their review process.

The second headline is Apple’s App Store Approval Process Now Includes an Automated Layer. The quick version is that Apple is now using an automated tool to determine if the Apps that developers submit to the App Store are using any Private API calls.

These two headlines are actually the same story, a fact that was made quite apparent by a popular direct iPhone-to-iPhone messaging App called Ping!. On Ping!’s Facebook Page, the developer announced that the much-anticipated version 1.2 of Ping! has been rejected by Apple:

Bad news is Ping! 1.2 has been rejected by Apple on Nov 14 due to a software library we used, developed by the Facebook company. This library is used by many apps including Ping! and the iPhone Facebook app itself. Unfortunately the most recent version of this library has violated some of Apple’s guidelines and  has caused hundreds of apps to get rejected including Ping! 1.2.

So let’s get this straight. Ping! and hundreds of apps have been rejected because they used a popular development framework, a framework which used Private APIs. A framework, which was created by Joe Hewitt initially for use with the Facebook application and then made available to third-party developers.

Lets be clear about this; Joe Hewitt used Private APIs in his public framework, well-known to be against the rules of the App Store, and then acts all indigent when Apple slaps his framework down. Rather than disclosing his error, rather than saying “oops sorry about that,” he would rather ride the trendy wave of ‘blame Apple control policy’ and cite ‘philosophical differences.’ I rather wonder if these philosophical differences would still be present if his framework hadn’t been caught in this automated tool. If it were just other people’s frameworks that were caught, would he still have quit for ideological reasons?

Now I don’t mean to pick solely on Mr Hewitt, and maybe I’m being too harsh. But he is just the latest example in a blogosphere that increasingly seems to love taking the loud minority and say “Look! Here’s proof that the end is nigh!” Come on, the end isn’t nigh, it’s not even on the horizon. Out of the thousands of App Developers that exist, we’ve had a dozen, maybe two dozen make a public fuss and quit. Big deal! This is the real world; businesses start, some succeed and some can’t hack the brutal reality. Those just make excuses and quit. Just like everywhere else in the business world.

To summarize the full story that I see, it goes something like this:

• Apple publishes the rules for making iPhone Apps, including publishing and documenting the specific APIs which developers are allowed to use.
• Some developers ignore these rules and make use of Private APIs. Some Apps get through the cracks in the newly functioning App Store review procedures.
• Apple starts to crack down on private API usage. Developers who get rejected due to Private API use cry foul “Why are WE rejected but THOSE apps are allowed?” This was a fair question.
• In response Apple says “They shouldn’t have been allowed, we are working on a way to fill up the cracks in the system”
• Apple then goes ahead and fill the cracks with an automated (and thus unbiased) system to test of private API usage.
• Developers then cry foul, “It’s not fair, you’re a bully, it’s too hard.”

Cry me a river….

Before I get off my soap box, I’d like to add that there are times and places for Private API use. As a professional software developer working on proprietary custom embedded solutions on Windows Mobile devices for specific customers, I freely admit to using Private API calls at times. Sometimes its necessary to get a specific job done. The difference is scope and control. Our clients deploy the software under our care and guidance, with specific OS and hardware requirements. If they change devices or operating systems, we know about it well in advance and can prepare for it accordingly. Our clients don’t just upgrade the OS and expect everything to work.

The consumer market is a completely different kettle of fish, customers upgrade willy-nilly  and expect things to just work, especially things related to Apple products. Private APIs are private for a reason, because they can not be relied upon to behave from one OS release to the next. This means that applications will break and the consumers, you and me, lose out.

In the brutal competition of any market place, and indeed the world in general, the strong will survive and the weak will perish. The App Store is no different and I’m constantly dumb-founded as to why some people expect it to be so.

App Store developers now have more to contend with than just the fickle tastes of the humans Apple has reviewing submissions. Now, submissions also go through an automated filter that determines whether or not the app is obeying the rules and not using any of Apple’s private APIs, which is a no-no, according to the developer agreement.

The news comes via a conversation that occurred between developers on Twitter. Craig Hockenberry, best known for Twitterific, guessed that the App Store now contains a mechanism to check submitted code against proper framework use, and John Gruber responded that Apple has in fact recently begun to do just that.

The specific function of the new automated component is to check submissions for private API calls. If it finds any, the app is rejected outright. Presumably, such a check would be run at the beginning of the review process, thereby cutting down a lot on the number of submissions that must be reviewed by actual human beings. In other words, it’s a volume compensation strategy on Apple’s part.

It’s also technically fair, since Apple has said all along that private APIs are off-limits. The published reason being that Apple can’t confirm that said APIs will remain stable from release to release of the iPhone OS, meaning that something based on them might break every time an update rolls out. By forcing developers to stick with the public APIs, Apple is trying to ensure that some stability exists for end-users who depend on the hundred thousand apps or so available now in the App Store.

Despite being technically fair, the move feels a little unfair to developers, since Apple hasn’t exactly been consistent about enforcing the rules regarding private APIs up till now. One reason could have been that spotting their use just isn’t that easy, which the computer filter now rectifies. But it seems clear that Apple also looked the other way in at least a couple of cases when it suited it to do so, like with Google’s mobile search app, hence my suggestion that this has more to do with reducing workload using a non-arbitrary filter than anything else.

While the introduction of an automated layer does, on the surface, seem to guarantee a level of fairness, it also probably isn’t very encouraging to developers, who now essentially face a firewall before they gain access to individuals they can actually talk to about what’s wrong with their submission. Expect more headaches for the App Store team as the fallout for the implementation of this measure.

I’m not sure how many of you are playing Eliminate Pro on your iPhones, but I’m guessing it has to be a fairly high number, considering the app’s success since its recent launch. ngmoco’s ambitious first-person shooter for Apple’s mobile platform is third overall in the App Store’s Top Free list, but what’s more impressive is the number 22 spot it currently occupies in the Top Grossing list of apps.

That’s a huge step for the micropayments business model made possible by the introduction of in-app purchasing in iPhone OS 3.0. It marks the first real evidence that developers can make good money offering a “freemium” model on the iPhone platform, with users getting the initial product for free, but paying for in-game rewards and additional content.

ngmoco appears to have found the sweet spot in add-on content where users don’t feel like they’re being extorted by a game’s in-app purchasing system. Eliminate Pro uses a system in which players earn rewards for in-game achievements that can be used to purchase armor and weapon upgrades. The catch is that you only get a certain amount of time during which game play earns you points. You can keep playing for free, but in order to get more rewards, you have to pay for more usable time.

Users can buy blocks of active time using the in-app purchasing system, in $1, $10 and $30 dollar increments. Players seem to have taken a shine to the system, since in-app purchases alone account for all of Eliminate Pro’s gross revenue. ngmoco also has a strong community and social media promotions effort in place behind the new title.

The company’s other title that depends heavily on in-app commerce, Touch Pets Dogs, hasn’t yet mirrored the success of Eliminate Pro. It hasn’t been available in the U.S. store for quite as long as Eliminate Pro, but I suspect the fact that its target audience skews much younger has more to do with its weaker performance. Eliminate players are far more likely to be in a position to have access to a pay-capable iTunes account.

No doubt ngmoco and other developers will try to repeat the success of Eliminate with other apps based on the same model. Personally, I’d be happy to see more games along the same lines, so long as developers remember that “freemium” does not mean “artificially handicapped.” Eliminate Pro works so well because it’s fun even if you don’t make use of the in-app purchases. As a result, users feel that ngmoco is operating in good faith and are willing to spend money on enhancing their experience.

iPhone devs are a rebellious bunch, and they don’t like to be bullied by anyone other than their Apple, which both frustrates and affirms their existence. Now, in light of what some might call a campaign being waged against the App Store by a well-known trademark troll, many iPhone devs are protesting what they see as Apple’s cowardice in the face of unjust threats.

According to TUAW, the trademark troll in question is none other than Tim Langdell, founder of the “gaming company” Edge Games. In reality, Edge Games produces very little beyond copyright infringement suits, which it launches against any and all games that feature the word “edge” in their title. EA’s Mirror’s Edge recently fell between Langdell’s crosshairs, for example, despite the fact that the game itself bears no similarity to any of Edge Games’ roster of “planned” titles.

Apparently the App Store has been a prime target for Tim Langdell and Edge Games. Reports claim that all he has to do is contact Apple and let them know that a game is in violation of his trademarks — which again, basically means it has “edge” somewhere in the title — and Apple pulls the game without much fuss. No doubt Apple just doesn’t want to deal with yet another legal battle that could ensue if Langdell gets the opportunity to take things beyond the cease-and-desist phase, but this really seems unfair to honest game devs who actually work for their money.

In protest, a group of iPhone devs are changing the names of their games to include “edge” in the titles, with the desired outcome being that Apple will realize that to continue just disallowing the word completely will significantly affect the App Store’s catalog of offerings. So, for example, Canabalt becomes “Canabedge,” the Eliss sequel becomes “Edgeliss” and Critter Crunch becomes “Critter Credge.” All of the changes mentioned haven’t actually been made to the apps in the store, but on developer web sites as a show of solidarity.

Even though this particular protest limits itself to the area beyond Apple’s sphere of control, it does demonstrate a promising solution to App Store bully tactics. If developers could organize in a similar manner, but with bigger numbers and with the support of some of the pillars of the App Store, they could more effectively combat unfair policies. Apple will be less likely to anger content producers if it has potential ramifications across its catalog. Let’s see a developers rights advocacy group come to pass, so articles about the injustices of the App Store can become a more infrequent occurrence.

It’s time to delve in to the App Store and take a look at a select few releases that could find a happy home on your iPhone. This week I’ve selected four games that I’ll be zoning out with this weekend.

Of course there are scores of games out for the iPhone, but we’ve been lucky enough to have a few really excellent titles released in the past week or so.

My top pick for this week is 8-bit rhythm-action game Ninja Honda Karate. Plus, I’ve also been looking at Eliminate Pro, Horror Racing and Minima.

Ninja Honda Karate ($2.99)

Amongst the endless generic game clones constantly arriving at the App Store, Ninja Honda Karate is a true breath of fresh air. It takes 8-bit video-games, Japanese culture, chip music and rhythm action gameplay, mashing it all together into a multicolor milieu of awesome.

The game premise just barely makes sense. You play as Karate Alberto Honda, a very Mario-esque but nonetheless cute hero. The aim is to karate chop coins in time to the blippy bloppy beat. Occasionally you’ll tap a mushroom, triggering a psychedelic rocket launch across the screen. At the end of each level, before the scores are tallied, you’ll also deliver a giant mushroom to the princess.

While the premise is gloriously nonsensical and convoluted, the gameplay is plain simple. Coins come out of various tubes on the screen, as they emerge, you simply tap the coin in time with the music. In effect, you end up performing the soundtrack as you play the game. The game certainly isn’t innovative, but that’s the point: it’s a beatific mashup of everything else.

Eliminate Pro (Free)

Developed under the apt codename FPS, this might not be the first first-person shooter to hit the iPhone, but it’s certainly the most polished. Eschewing a proper plot, or even single player mode, Eliminate is all about big guns, futuristic robotic suites and online multiplayer death matches.

The game certainly looks the part. Inside the immaculately designed arenas — all shiny metal-plating and steel walkways — you’ll face competitors in customised power-suits, armed to the teeth with explosive weaponry. Eliminate is, in essence, the pocket-sized lovechild of Quake 3 and Unreal Tournament.

However, a word of warning about the game’s price. It’s free to download and free to play, however your character is given a limited amount of energy per day. When your energy runs out, you’re no longer allowed to compete. You can either wait 24 hours for your energy to re-charge, play a few practice rounds or buy more.

And that’s where some of the more frequent players may take issue. Purchasing energy cells, starting at a dollar a pack, just isn’t good value. It’s a great quality game, certainly worth downloading, but don’t expect to play for free more than a couple of times per day.

Horror Racing ($2.99)

Halloween is over and Horror Racing was released around three weeks ago, so this almost didn’t make the cut. Horror Racing’s saving grace though is that it’s actually a really fun little game. The game brings to mind old-school arcade racers, viewed from above the track you have the perfect vantage point to observe the havoc and wreak devastation.

The game has very little to do with horror, though. The characters are more cute than scary. The circuits are awash with browns and greens, making it look like a muddy mess. The sound helps remedy the situation. The constant RC car buzz as you speed your way around the circuits is perfect.

And then there’s the gameplay itself. The races, a mix of explosions and skill, are downright fun. There are several gameplay modes, including an excellent on-going Championship Mode. As you play through the game, you’ll earn money which can then be spent upgrading your car’s engine, armour or weaponry. All that’s really missing with Horror Racing is a multiplayer online mode.

Minima (99 cents)

Clearly I’ve got a bit of a think for anything wrapped in retro visuals. I suppose I miss the glory days of my old BBC Micro and Commodore Amiga. My final pick for this week takes the retro aesthetic a step further, reducing the graphics to a grid of giant glowing pixels.

Minima takes after its name and keeps the gameplay incredibly minimal. You control a color-changing pixel. The objective is to avoid other pixels by changing color and blending in with them. Further enhancing the game’s retro-vibe, each of the nine levels is styled after a particular classic video-game.

That’s all the picks for this week. I’ll be back in seven days with a fresh selection of App Store recommendations.

In the meantime, what apps have you been using this week?

481 days. That’s how long it took the App Store to go from opening its virtual doors with 500 applications on July 11, 2008 to a catalog of more than 100,000 applications downloaded more than 2 billion times.

Not surprisingly, the folks at Apple are pleased.

“The App Store, now with over 100,000 applications available, is clearly a major differentiator for millions of iPhone and iPod touch customers around the world,” said Philip Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Product Marketing. “The iPhone SDK created the first great platform for mobile applications and our customers are loving all of the amazing apps our developers are creating.”

The amazing thing is that it’s likely not even Apple knew just how successful the App Store and SDK would be or how it would spawn so many competitors (GigaOM Pro, subscription required).

In June 2007, it was Apple CEO Steve Jobs talking up a different method application development for the iPhone:

“Our innovative approach, using Web 2.0-based standards, lets developers create amazing new applications while keeping the iPhone secure and reliable.”

Imagine for a moment if Apple had stuck to that ideal of a web-based platform. I believe it would be called the Palm Pre.

Of course, it’s possible that Apple knew all along that there would be a real SDK for the iPhone OS, almost assuredly so for major partners like game developers. Apple again pushed that gaming concept for iPhone OS with today’s announcement, too. EA Mobile VP Travis Boatman chimed in on the press release, saying that the App Store has “forever changed the mobile gaming industry and continues to improve.” You can bet Nintendo and Sony believe at least the first part of that statement, much to their chagrin.

What you didn’t find in the press release was what, exactly, is being done to improve the flawed approval process. While Apple talks about addressing issues, there is no evidence of real, systemic change. As the App Store moves inevitably towards 500,000, and then its millionth application, you have to wonder if the App Store can withstand the stress of its own incredible success.

Ngmoco has been talking up its new offerings for a while now, including the visually stunning first-person shooter Eliminate, and the virtual pet Touch Pets series of apps. Both of these are now available, free of charge, on the App Store, as of yesterday.

Even though the apps are indeed free to download and install on your device, it should be noted that both of these apps represent the latest attempts to capitalize on Apple’s in-app purchasing system, in perhaps some of the most diabolical ways yet. ngmoco has recently used in-app purchasing to sell level packs for Rolando 2, which can now be downloaded for free with Chapter 1 included.

Eliminate (Free, iTunes Link)

Space marines, jumping, shooting, glowy surrounding, what more could you ask for? Eliminate is the first fully functional, original IP (not that we’re saying it isn’t derivative, mind you) first-person shooters to hit the iPhone platform, and it’s been highly anticipated as a result. It features global matchmaking for multiplayer combat over both 3G and Wi-Fi networks. Sorry, no EDGE, but it probably couldn’t handle the action anyway.

There’s also Plus+ network integration so you can track your stats and invite your friends and contacts to go toe-to-toe in deathmatches, and compare stats on the leader board. And the game includes a leveling and credit for weapon and armor upgrades and customization. Sounds pretty good, right? Now the bad news.

Eliminate is free to play, but it definitely gives you an advantage to pay. As the cleverly designed opening sequence relates, you are equipped with a set amount of energy in Eliminate, and when said energy runs out, you no longer earn credits for kills. Energy refills over time, or you can simply buy more using the in-app purchasing system. Credits allow you to upgrade weapons and armor.

You start with 30 power cells of energy. Based on my trials, that will probably last you about 10 to 15 minutes of play, if that, though I’m not sure of the actual conversion rate. Once you expend any points, a countdown clock starts until you charge again. The clock lasts around 240 minutes, so you are recharged every four hours, basically. You can buy additional power cells in blocks of 20, 280, and 975 for 99 cents, $9.99 and $29.99 respectively if you’re not the patient type.

The game is fun, and works surprisingly well given the touch controls you’re stuck with on an iPhone or iPod touch, and you can practice against bots or play without earning credits for free any time you want. All of which means that ngmoco is being pretty fair with its use of in-app purchasing this time around. Basically, you pay to progress, but the game is still enjoyable by all without that aspect. It’s a nice blend, and one that I predict will be hugely successful once Eliminate hits wide release.

Touch Pets Dogs (Free, iTunes Link)

I admit to once having owned a tamagotchi. Or if not owned, at least permanently on loan from my sister. The problem, of course, was that they always proved more of a nuisance than anything else. All of the demands of a real pet, and none of the benefits, like companionship or snuggle-ability.

Touch Pets Dogs follows in the footsteps of Nintendogs and other pet simulators before it. You pick out a puppy, name it, and then begin taking care of, playing with, and training it. It has a Sims-like interface for checking on your dog’s skills and happiness level, and even their Job status, which is a unique feature introduced by the ngmoco sim. You can train your dog to follow a career path, which makes it even more like The Sims.

There’s actually a lot to do in Touch Pet Dogs, and you gain levels as a dog owner in different areas, just like your dog can gain skills and job levels. It’s much richer than any other pet sim I’ve played, and it managed to keep my interest for more than one play-through, which is a record I think.

The in-app purchasing component to Touch Pets is fairly devious, though. You have to pay for food, which seems extremely cruel, since it’s such a basic necessity for your dog’s well-being. Luckily, your food automatically refills to a maximum of two bowls, and does so relatively quickly, so you can still play without having to cough up micropayments, but it will be harder to keep your dog hale and hearty. You can also buy more Puppy Bucks by converting food that you buy via iTunes.

The Future of iPhone Gaming?

Both of these new games from ngmoco show different types of attempts at capitalizing on the iPhone’s in-app purchasing system. It’s a thorny issue to navigate, since on the one hand, you could stand to make a lot more money than by selling apps in a more traditional manner, but on the other, you could inspire the rancor of your customers if you appear to be using the system unfairly. In my opinion, ngmoco’s done a good job of treading that thin line thus far, and it looks like they’re committed to making changes to make sure they strike the right balance.

Recently I read about the First & 20 project, an effort to share the home screens of various technorati. When I heard about it I immediately shot off to the page to look through the home screens. I was most excited about the possibility of finding new applications. As we all know, one of the hardest things about the app store is app discovery. I thought a collection of applications selected by tech-savvy people like me would be a gold mine of good, new apps I could try out.

Imagine my surprise when I found not a single new app I wanted to try. Even more surprising was how the same third-party applications appeared over and over again on people’s home screens. And the vast majority of those were applications that I either used myself or had tried in the past. Just because I have all the time in the world I decided to have fun with some math.Of the total applications found on the home screens of the First & 20 site, 77 different third-party applications were listed. 46 of those were found only once, or just under 60 percent of the total, while 31 were found multiple times. That might seem innocuous, but when you look at the total number of application slots taken up by the two groups, the numbers flip dramatically.

In total, 162 slots were taken up by third-party applications. The 40 percent of applications that were found more than once took up over 71 percent of those slots on home screens. The reason, of course, is that the distribution of applications found more than once. As you can see below, Tweetie was mentioned 11 times, while Birdfeed was mentioned eight times, etc.

To expand the sample a bit more, I took a survey of home screens of TAB writers and added that to the First & 20 data. The result was almost identical in terms of percentages, as you can see below.

Yay numbers, but what does all this actually mean? What it indicates to me is just how meaningless Apple’s constant prattering about the total number of apps in the app store is. The reality is that only a small percentage of those applications are good enough to make it onto the home screens of the most discerning users. I mentioned above the problem that led me to eagerly check out the First & 20 site: the fact that finding good applications is so hard. The more useless apps continue to enter the app store, the greater this problem becomes.

It also seems to me that the barrier to compete successfully with the app store is significantly lower than some would imagine. The reality is you don’t have to have 90,000 applications to compete with the iPhone and iPod touch. You probably actually only need 1,000 very good applications on your platform. This was driven home for me when I recently saw that Android now has applications for Facebook, Remember the Milk, Pandora, Amazon and Open Table, all apps that I use on my iPhone and apps that make it easier for me to switch to Android.

Apple seems to be trying to address the problem of too many apps through in-app purchases, which holds the promise of finally killing those extraneous “lite” applications, as well as, hopefully, killing off the plethora of single book applications available on the store. But problems remain, like the fact that you don’t see app ratings while searching through the app store. In the meantime, my aimless search for quality iPhone apps continues.

The long-awaited weekend has finally arrived and with it comes the opportunity to consider purchasing some shiny new Apple hardware. If you’re looking for a distraction from those wallet-emptying new Apple toys, I suggest you check out my picks from the App Store.

This week’s picks are all about distractions, I’ve selected four apps to take your mind off everything else. My top pick is NFB Films, the National Film Board of Canada’s official iPhone app. Plus I’ve also been looking at Jamie Oliver’s 20 Minute Meals, Rebtel and Mr. Bounce.

NFB Films (Free)

Knowing little about the National Film Board of Canada, I was admittedly drawn to the app for other reasons. You see, I’m a long-time fan of Boards of Canada, a Scottish duo who make crackling, whistful electronic music. The pair are known for borrowing samples — and even their name — from Canada’s NFB.

The app itself has absolutely nothing to do with the musicians. It’s actually a meticulously archived selection of videos plucked from the National Film Board of Canada’s brimming library. There’s both classic and current content, organized into categories such as Classics, Documentaries, Animated Films and Social Issues. It’s worth noting that these aren’t clips — the videos are feature-length presentations.

For such a vast quantity of content, it’s encouraging that the app is focused on usability. Browsing content feels just like Apple’s own iPod app, you can mark videos to be watched later, or send to a friend too. There’s even a button to find out what other nearby users are watching. And all this for free, too. It’s really quite brilliant. It’s a truly wonderful app and the NFB should be commended for allowing us all access to such a fantastic collection.

Jamie Oliver’s 20 Minute Meals ($7.99)

Cooking might not be everyone’s idea of fun but, for the non-believers, I can assure you that once you get started it’s a joy. There’s nothing quite like creating a gorgeous looking plate of food and then, in the process of devouring it, discovering that it’s actually quite tasty too.

The turning point for me came after I attempted Jamie Oliver’s recipe for pan-fried tuna steak with fresh asparagus wrapped in pancetta. Before that, the extent of my cooking ability was scrambled egg. Or omelette if I happened to get distracted and forgot to do the scrambling. For me, Jamie made cooking easy and accessible. A pleasure instead of a complex chore.

The iPhone app is essentially a Jamie Oliver cookbook infused with a dollop of multimedia goodness. There are 50 recipes included, all of which can be thrown together in 20 minutes. Each recipe features mouth-watering step-by-step photos and audio clips from Jamie too. There’s even a range of videos presented by Jamie to help you learn essential kitchen skills. A proper pukka package, as the man himself might say.

Rebtel (Free)

News broke a couple of weeks back that AT&T is finally ready to allow Internet voice calls over its wireless network. What this means for iPhone users in the U.S. is that soon you’ll be able to make calls using the Skype app over 3G.

We’re still waiting for the news to manifest itself in an actual Skype app update, furthermore it’s unclear whether carriers across Europe will follow suit with AT&T. This is where VOIP service Rebtel comes in. The company claim that their new app allows super-cheap VOIP calls on the iPhone today.

Except the app doesn’t quite do that. What it actually does is uses a smart workaround to create a clever compromise. When you call a contact using Rebtel, the app automatically generates a local number which your call is routed through. It’s essentially an automated version of the Skype To Go service.

Mr Bounce (99 cents)

The last of my devastatingly distracting picks this week comes in the form of a game. Mr Bounce gives Atari’s oft-cloned Breakout an intriguing physics-based twist. Rather than just controlling the bat, you also control the ball’s altitude.

Initially it feels complicated. Like a physicists re-imagining of a classic game. Changing the altitude effectively changes the bounciness of the ball. There’s also trajectory projection, so you can see the path that the ball will follow. The game is even rendered with an RGB aesthetic and glowing vector geometry.

Once you’ve traversed the first few levels though, the game clicks and you’ll be guided through 25 excellent levels by the catchy blippy bloppy soundtrack. Great fun and great value too as Mr Bounce is currently only 99 cents.

That’s all the picks for this week. I’ll be back in seven days with a fresh selection of App Store recommendations.

In the meantime, what apps have you been using this week?

As we reported just yesterday, Apple didn’t take too kindly to El Gato’s “accidental” inclusion of a workaround to enable 3G streaming of live TV on the iPhone using its EyeTV app. The app, combined with an EyeTV USB Mac TV tuner, allows users to stream that content from their computer. I say allows, not allowed, because it’s now back in the App Store for $4.99.

For those who missed the reason why the app was pulled in the first place, El Gato had “accidentally left in” a feature whereby if you click the warning window that tells you Wi-Fi is required for live TV playback, instead of the “OK” button in the window, the dialog would close and streaming would occur over 3G anyway.

El Gato revealed that it had already resubmitted a fixed version when the problem was discovered, and that version has today been approved by Apple and is available for download. This time around, clicking the dialog box has no effect.

Whether it was an Easter egg, meant to pass undetected through Apple’s censors (which seems unlikely, given how easy it was to activate), or whether it was just an accident, the incident reveals that despite AT&T’s recent announcement that voice calls would now be allowed over 3G, that doesn’t mean it’s a free-for-all with all types of content.

I still think this needs looking into by a regulatory body. Data is data, and if wireless customers are paying not-insignificant fees in order to be able to use data on their cell phones, they should have the right to choose the nature of that traffic. My plan covers 6GB per month. Who’s to say I don’t want to use five of that on streaming video? I can see cutting me off once I exceed my limit, since I might then be causing undue strain on your network, but if you’ve assigned me 6GB, let me use that however I see fit.

At least Apple is being relatively understanding about the whole thing. It could easily have barred EyeTV from the app store for an extended period, or altogether, in order to punish what could easily be seen an a purposeful attempt to side-step App Store requirements. Instead, it acted quickly when a fix was issued and reintroduced in the app with very little delay following its removal. I think this especially points to the fact that AT&T is really still the one to blame in cases like this.

When Apple first allowed in-app purchases for third-party apps on the iPhone platform it was restricted to paid apps only, even if the app was only 99 cents. Today, Apple informed all registered iPhone developers that it was now allowing free apps to contain in-app purchases.

While this does open the door to potential ‘bait and switch’ apps (its free, but then you have to pay to make it useful), the advantages completely outweigh the potential for bait and switch. Developers have been asking since the beginning to make true ‘trial versions’ available that can be upgraded without the consumer losing data. If app developers embrace this it will put a complete end to the argument that Crackulous exists, not for piracy, but to enable users to ‘trial’ software.

What is not clear yet is that if Apple will allow ‘time limited’ demos or not — giving the full features for 30 days or so and then locking it out with an upgrade. Another question is how this change will affect the top “Paid” and “Free” app lists. Time will answer these questions, but I think this is definitely a good move on Apple’s part and continues to strengthen its App Store’s lead in the industry.

The email sent to developers is below:

In App Purchase is being rapidly adopted by developers in their paid apps. Now you can use In App Purchase in your free apps to sell content, subscriptions, and digital services.

You can also simplify your development by creating a single version of your app that uses In App Purchase to unlock additional functionality, eliminating the need to create Lite versions of your app. Using In App Purchase in your app can also help combat some of the problems of software piracy by allowing you to verify In App Purchases.

Visit the App Store Resource Center for more details about how you can add In App Purchases to your free apps.

Taking you behind-the-scenes of a real iPhone app’s development, in this installment I attempt to make my own iPhone app in one weekend and learn from Ustwo about how to take an idea to the App Store in just 48 hours.

It’s been a few weeks since my last entry in the App Developer Diary. Markus, the coder based here in Helsinki, has been busy. This week he unveiled a playable prototype of our app, allowing me to test and refine the main game mechanic.

In the meantime, Matias coded up a cute little mini-game over the course of one weekend. While he worked on the programming, I created the sound, music and artwork (above). In one weekend we created a really great little game, almost ready to be released in the App Store.

We’re not the only developers who have been working on these quick-fire app concepts. Mobile development studio Ustwo also took an idea from hasty scribble to the App Store in just 48 hours. It’s encouraging to see that their first 48 hour app, simply titled .™, is now selling as a 99 cent download.

Have You Seen the Dot?

We didn’t do much planning for our own 48 hour app. Matias came up with an idea — a button-tapping game with a bizarre musical twist — and built it. Ustwo, being a little more strategic, managed to sketch out a few concepts before coding up their app.

Ustwo founder Mills sat down with his iPhone development team and threw together a development plan. Their app would be cool, simple and addictive. Most importantly though, it would stake a claim in the App Store, showcasing their ability to think fast and be creative under pressure.

Mills laid down a fundamental ground rule too: the scope of the project would go no further than two days. The app would be submitted to Apple on hour 48 of development.

Just the Basics

Stepping up to the challenge, the Ustwo team produced three simple sketches. Their hastily drawn plan outlined the game’s control system, look and feel, and gameplay mechanic.

The sketches only cover the essentials, but that’s really all that the team needed to get coding. The first image covers the game’s accelerometer-based control method, and main character — a dot — alongside succinctly stating that the app will have a, “minimal aesthetic.”

The second sketch contains an ultra-refined executive summary of the game: control dot to select smaller dots. The gameplay mechanic is revealed in the third sketch. Your dot is shrinking, he needs to eat dots to stay alive, triangles will kill him.

In just three images we’ve got a clear idea of how a typical game will play out. You’ll be tilting and twisting the iPhone, sliding a shrinking dot around the screen and trying to collect other dots while avoiding an onslaught of death-dealing triangles.

From Paper To Flash

After sketching out the game concept, the team took the concept to the computers. Their first step was to flesh out a quick playable prototype of the game concept using Flash. Focusing on look and feel, they tested a variety of different visual designs alongside taking a closer look at the controls too.

With the prototype working as expected and with the sketches for reference, the app was hastily coded up. After a quick round of QA — searching for bugs, design and gameplay issues — the team submitted the app for App Store approval. For Ustwo, the 48 hour app concept worked. It made development fun, it reduced costs and it challenged the coders and designers to think quickly and creatively.

It’s possible that we’ll be seeing more studios take on the 48 hour app challenge. Adobe recently announced that the forthcoming update of Flash, version CS5, will render files in the iTunes App Store format. This is a serious boon for Flash-based artists and designers everywhere, putting the tools for app development into the hands of even more creatives. In the case of Ustwo, they even created a fully-functional web version of .™, using Flash.

Our own 48 hour app still needs a few final tweaks before being submitted to the App Store. Ustwo’s successful 48 hour development, .™, is currently available from the App Store for 99 cents.

Tapulous took the App Store by storm with its inaugural Tap Tap Revenge rhythm music gaming title. It followed that up with the no less successful Tap Tap Revenge 2, Tap Tap Dance, and various Tap Tap games branded for individual artists. Tap Tap Revenge 3 (iTunes link) hit the App Store today, bringing with it new features and some unique iPhone 3.0 capabilities.

The official page for the app just went live over at Tapulous’s site. The app is the first in the revenge series not to retail for free — it costs 99 cents, and potentially will result in far more revenue via in-app purchasing.

For those of you worried that Tap Tap Revenge is now all about the Benjamins, fear not, there are still plenty of free tracks available for download, with more planned as future updates. It’s basically the same set-up that existed with TTR2, but without the need to buy special separate themed apps from Coldplay, etc., in order to get that bonus content. Instead, you use in-game “coins” to acquire new songs.

Opening up the app, I found right away that TTR3 was quite different from its predecessors. The first thing I had to do was choose a username and an avatar. The avatar seems to be randomly generated from a stock selection of different parts, so I of course spent far too long randomizing my appearance until I found something somewhat acceptable.

After that, I checked out the store to see what I could spend my hard-won coins on, and was not surprised to find avatar items and clothing among the available purchases. You use coins to buy avatar items, but luckily coins are earned in-game and don’t cost any actual money.

Buying tracks uses the in-app purchasing feature introduced in iPhone OS 3.0, and will prompt you with the amount the item you’ve chosen costs and a dialog that allows you to either buy or cancel the transaction. Tracks come in Packs, each featuring two or more songs. I tried purchasing a Blink-182 track pack for $2.99, and then thought better of it.

The actual rhythm game part of Tap Tap Revenge 3 works just like you remember it, if you played any of the predecessors. Colored orbs travel down three lanes, and must be tapped when they reach the bottom of your iPhone’s screen in order to score points and rack up a high score. Your score affects the number of points you earn, which you can then spend on avatar items.

Song selection in the in-app store is a bit hit or miss, and features a lot of content already available on previous installments, but the game’s only been out for less than a day, so I suspect the library will fill out quite nicely in time. If you liked the previous games, and the added incentive of a growing library featuring top artists and a built-in rewards system appeals to you, 99 cents is well worth the price of admission for TTR3.

Even though services like Skype, Gtalk, Yahoo, AOL, Twitter and Facebook make it possible to instant or direct message just about anyone online these days, some folks still swear by Internet Relay Chat (IRC). In fact, for many die-hard geeks and software development teams, IRC is the only way to fly.

There are plenty of Web-based and standalone apps that let you join IRC chat rooms (or, channels, as they’re typically called) from your desktop computer, but once you go mobile, your options dwindle. Colloquy, one of the most popular open-source IRC clients for the Mac, now has a spiffy new version for the iPhone that lets you stay connected in-channel while you’re on the road.

Once installed, Colloquy sets up easily in minutes. To add an IRC network to your preferred list, simply supply its address and your identity information. You can choose to automatically connect to the server and even individual rooms at launch.

It’s easy to remove networks from your list if you decide you no longer want to visit them.

Colloquy runs in the background to track conversations and tells you at a glance where the action is. It also alerts you when someone in the channels you’ve joined uses your nickname or keywords you’ve pre-designated.

Channel conversations are streamlined thanks to nickname and emoticon completion popups and support for all the common IRC commands you’re used to using with computer-based IRC clients.

Colloquy for the iPhone has a number of other useful features including support for landscape mode, a searchable room member list, and secure connections over SSL. Clicked links open with the built-in browser, and Colloquy even stays connected when you lock your phone.

If you use IRC for online communication, then Colloquy for the iPhone’s $1.99 price tag is well worth it. The app is easy to use, even for a novice, and has a great user-community that can help you get started or answer any questions that arise. Once you have the app up and running, be sure to come by TheAppleBlog’s IRC channel and say hi.

The sequel to Tweetie, the Twitter client that earned itself the much-coveted Apple Design Award earlier this year, is on its way to the App Store as you read this.

For the past few weeks I’ve been part of Loren Brichter’s Tweetie 2 beta program, testing out new features as the former Apple engineer constructed his new Twitter client.

Brichter has rebuilt Tweetie from the ground-up. The sequel incorporates features such as app persistence, offline mode, drafts, threaded conversations, landscape support and much more.

Read on for an in-depth look at what to expect from Tweetie 2.

Look & Feel

While Tweetie 2 incorporates an updated aesthetic, it won’t be difficult for both new and veteran users to get to grips with the app. More so impressive is how the app incorporates a raft of new features without overwhelming the user.

Even after playing with Tweetie 2 for a few weeks, I’m still discovering new functionality. For instance, when replying to a tweet you can now drag down with your finger to “peek” at the original message.

It’s a small feature indeed but finding these kind of miniscule updates brings to mind that satisfied glow we all get when discovering new features in OS X. In essence, skimming through tweets, tapping out messages and finding new folk to follow looks and feels great with Tweetie 2.

Writing & Replying

Composing richer tweets is easier now. Tweetie 2 lays out the different options clearly so that you can quickly add content to your latest 140 character micro-opus. In a given tweet you’re able to access your Twitter address-book and @ messages, search current hashtags, geotag your tweet and add photos too.

Plus, just like with Tweetie on OS X, you can now shrink URLs with the tap of a button. Obsessively attentive readers may have noticed me video tweeting from Big Bird over the past few weeks, that’s because Tweetie 2 also incorporates video tweeting from the 3GS.

There’s also a wealth of options available beyond simply retweeting a message from someone that you’re following. Now you can quote the tweet, post a direct link, translate and even e-mail the tweet to a friend — all without leaving the app itself.

For prolific Twitter users there’s now a drafts manager. This means that you can write and save a stack of tweets for posting later on. I’ve found that it’s particularly handy to have several drafted tweets ready to go just incase you get hit by a case of tweeter’s block.

Browsing the Timeline

The app now features full persistence. This means that if you’re, say, tapping through a prolonged conversation and then you quit the app, you’re able to pick up exactly where you left off. Every single time you exit, the app remembers your place and drops you right back there.

Offline reading has been incorporated too. You’re now able to compose those witty little one-liners while offline, save them to your drafts, and unleash them on the Twittersphere next time you’re online. Even users or tweets you follow, block or favorite while offline will be synced back to the server.

Exactly like the desktop version of Tweetie, there are now threaded conversations, making it much easier to jump into an ongoing discussion and catch up with what you missed. Also, although I don’t use any read this later services, some users will be pleased to note that there’s Read It Later and Instapaper support too.

One of the most ingenious little additions to the timeline view is the “drag to refresh” gesture. Instead of tapping a refresh button, you simply scroll to the top of the timeline and then drag down. It works as intended and, thanks to the gesture combined with a sound-effect and flippy-floppy arrow, it feels tangible and satisfying.

Landscapes & Locations

Not only can you compose a tweet in landscape view, the entire app can be browsed in landscape view. I appreciate that some users may have been waiting for this, however it’s not a feature that I particularly wanted, nor do I make use of now that it’s here. If I could find the button to turn off auto-rotate, I would do so.

Setting that little niggle aside, the Nearby tweets feature has received a much-needed overhaul too. The original Tweetie displayed an odd looking radar animation before loading a basic, but functional, timeline of tweets nearby your current location.

The new Tweetie loads up a Google Map and then pops up tiny speech bubble icons representing all the tweets in your vicinity. It’s an effective way of sorting through local tweets and is a more creative approach than the standard timeline view.

And There’s Even More…

There are details and small features that you almost certainly won’t come across within the first few days of using the app. For instance, Brichter has now included profile editing from within the app.

Another feature that I just picked up on today is the ability to tweet simultaneously from multiple accounts. When composing a tweet you simply tap the “New Tweet” header at the top of the screen and then select the other accounts that you’d like to post the message from.

The Bottom Line

The app is a standalone purchase, as opposed to an update/upgrade. It’ll be available in the App Store soon for only $2.99, just like the original iPhone Tweetie. There’s also an update to the Mac version on the way, however this will be a free update to current owners of Tweetie for OS X.

If you’re unfamiliar with the current state of Twitter clients, we’ve got a great roundup here on TheAppleBlog. It’s worth noting that the original Tweetie came out on top as one of the top clients.

The new app definitely gets a thumbs-up from me, although I’d be interested to know which of you will be upgrading to Tweetie 2 when it comes out.

Of all the file syncing solutions available, one of the most popular is Dropbox. As one of the solutions that is also cross-platform compatible, many Mac users have embraced Dropbox as a more reliable and robust solution than other alternatives, like MobileMe’s iDisk. Diehard Dropbox users can now rejoice as the Dropbox team is at it once again with the release of a native iPhone app, allowing users to access their dropbox on the go.

For a while, Dropbox has provided users with an iPhone-optimized web site for accessing their contents on the go, but that left many users desiring more. Even with 3G speeds, web browsing through Mobile Safari is not as fast as an application that can read/write to its own resources and sync with a server.

Native App, Native Features

With a native application, the Dropbox team has managed to provide full access to your dropbox contents as well as several interesting iPhone-specific features.

One of these is the ability to take photos or video directly within the application (or use existing content on your device) and have those photos synced to your dropbox automatically. Dropbox then gives users quick access to generate an email with an appropriate link to view the content and share it with others.

The application itself is very usable and functions like most other native apps. As expected, you can delete items from your dropbox just as you would an email (swipe to delete). To prevent users from experiencing lag (as would have happened with a web app), the application caches a copy of the directory structure once you’ve viewed it at least once. (This later is re-synced if changes occur elsewhere.)

Typical application file types that are supported on the iPhone (images, PDFs, Keynotes, Pages documents, Word documents, etc.) are all supported within the application. Word documents even support copy and paste! If you have video files that are of a supported type (QuickTime and the like), they will also stream from your Dropbox. For those who love sharing content, just like the aforementioned photos, a mail icon in the lower left corner allows users to generate emails for any content stored on their dropbox.

Dropbox also supports a “Favorites” feature which allows you to sync your favorite files directly to your iPhone, even further speeding up response time. To favorite a file, simply tap the star icon at the bottom of the screen when viewing the file.

A Few Shortcomings

One little complaint that I have is that Dropbox uses its own picture browser. As such, when I load an image, I’m unable to pinch to zoom like what happens when browsing photos elsewhere on my phone. Support for the accelerometer is present, though, as rotating my phone allows the photo to reorient itself. I’m assuming this is just a bug and something the Dropbox team will work out in a future update.

Another interesting piece that is missing is the fact that Dropbox supports Growl on its desktop version. Though it may be annoying, some users may be wishing for push notifications for any updates to their dropbox. Again, as this is an initial release, this is something that could come in a later update.

Dropbox is a free download from the App Store but does require a valid Dropbox account. Users can sign up for a free Dropbox account (limited to 2GB), and there are paid options for greater storage (50GB or 100GB). As someone who has used Dropbox for over a year now, it’s a very robust solution for file syncing and in my tests, a lot more stable than MobileMe’s iDisk. If you’ve used Dropbox or the new Dropbox app and have thoughts on the matter, tell us your experience!

Marking another base-10 milestone, Apple has announced that as of today, more than 2 billion applications have been downloaded from its wildly successful App Store.

Further, there are now more than 85,000 apps available to more than 50 million iPhone and iPod touch users in some 77 countries. The iPhone Developer Program now has more than 125,000 participants.

Those are some big, big numbers, and not surprisingly pleasing to Apple CEO Steve Jobs. Noting that more than half a billion apps were downloaded in just this quarter, Jobs declared that the “App Store has reinvented what you can do with a mobile handheld device, and our users are clearly loving it.”

Well, except for those Google Voice customers, maybe, but there is no denying that the App Store is the latest Next Great Thing from Apple. Its success has rivaled that of the Last Great Thing, the iPod, and in a shorter time frame. It took four years for the iPod to become the standard for media-playing devices, but the App Store has achieved its current position in 14 months.

The App Store opened on July 11, 2008 with 500 available apps. Six months later, some 15,000 apps had been downloaded half a million times. About three months after that, the App Store had its billionth download and a catalog of some 35,000 apps. Now, five months later, downloads have doubled again and the catalog has more than doubled. Despite legitimate concerns over the app review process, it appears there is no stopping the App Store, especially with the imminent introduction of the iPhone in China.

Ten billion apps downloaded in 2010, anyone?

As another week draws to a close, the App Store expands even further with a torrent of new toys and tools. As ever, I’ve hand-picked four recent iPhone releases for you to take a look at.

This week I’ve given our picks a creative vibe, selecting four different apps that let you engage with your artistic and cultural side. My top pick for the week is Xewton Music Studio, plus I’ve been looking at Snapture, GraffitiGeo and McSweeney’s.

Xewton Music Studio ($19.99)

Armed with an iPhone, there’s never been so much choice for making music on the move. Despite all the choice, the recording app I keep coming back to is FourTrack. It’s a fully-featured 4 track recorder, complete with bouncing, panning, metronome and Wi-Fi sharing.

When it comes to full on audio sequencing and sketching out bigger ideas, I head for Intua’s BeatMaker. The app costs twenty bucks, but for producers it’s definitely worth it: this is about as close to Ableton Live as you’ll get on your iPhone.

Now it looks like I might be adding Xewton Music Studio to my iPhone audio app lineup. Rather than put the focus on electronica, like Beatmaker, Music Studio is essentially a sequencer designed with traditional composers and songwriters in mind.

Xewton Music Studio includes 21 instruments, a 128-track sequencer, piano-roll note editor, real-time effects and lots more. Although the app may well take some time to learn, it’s powerful enough to potentially become a useful composition tool for many musicians.

Snapture ($1.99)

With Flickr, QuadCamera and PhotoForge handling all of the photo processing on my iPhone, I wasn’t sure if there was room for another camera app. Arriving at the App Store by way of Cydia, Snapture is a very tempting and feature-packed photo processing tool. Tempting as it is for my 3GS, this recommendation is for 3G users only.

The app rolls in a raft of useful functions, such as High Speed Multishot and Level Aid. Plus, once you’ve taken your photos, you can stay within the app to browse and manage your library.

It’s worth noting that the app currently doesn’t make use of the 3GS iPhone’s tap-to-focus functionality. While Snapture works well enough on Apple’s latest device, I would urge 3GS owners to hold out until the app integrates this much requested feature.

GraffitiGeo (Free)

Last Summer I signed a two-year contract with Sonera and received a white iPhone 3G. After arriving home and spending far too long trying to decide if I should film the unboxing (I didn’t), I tore away the packing, activated my iPhone and headed for the App Store.

One of the first apps that I downloaded was Graffitio, an old-school bulletin board that included geo-location support. After tagging various locations and adding a few messages, I got a little bored. The app’s long lists of tiny text felt too plain for my iPhone.

Released this Summer, GraffitiGeo takes the location tagging concept even further. The app feels like a fun version of Dopplr — as a tool, GraffitiGeo is useful for finding food, events and places of interest. And it’s surprisingly compelling as a toy too, as you’re able to form gangs and earn achievements. Definitely one to check out for iPhone owners in big cities.

McSweeney’s (99 cents)

McSweeney’s has always been a reliable destination for deliciously absurd, charming, silly, classy and fun literary offerings. While there are longer pieces to delve into, my favorite is a very short piece by Mike Ward called, E-mail Addresses It Would Be Really Annoying To Give Out Over The Phone.

Regular readers of McSweeney’s monochromatic online offering will be used to getting their fix for free. Although the iPhone app isn’t free, it includes access to a weekly fix of McSweeney’s Internet Tendency.

The most promising aspect of McSweeney’s iPhone app is that it includes a six month subscription to the Small Chair. Every single week for the next six months you’ll receive scrummy multimedia blips — songs, videos, stories and such — from clever creative folk like Spike Jonze, Chris Ware and Jonathan Ames.

That’s all the picks for this week. I’ll be back in seven days with a fresh selection of App Store recommendations.

In the meantime, what apps have you been using this week?

It’s fall premiere season, and that means new shows. But it also means sparkly new ads to fill all those commercial breaks. New Apple ads for the iPhone provided pleasant relief for me yesterday from the tedium of the two-hour Heroes premiere. On a side note, the Castle premiere was pretty good.

But back to those commercials. All three highlight popular and unique iPhone apps, some of which have already been featured in previous commercials. Let’s take a look at the apps featured in each commercial.

Dine

The first ad is called Dine and features a smattering of apps covering a range of different topics, including travel, dining, working and shopping. Here’s a breakdown of the apps featured.

TripCase (Free) — Flight tracking, info and travel itinerary management app. Quite a few not so great reviews on this one, but it is free.

New York Subway 09 ($4.99) — Navigate the labyrinth of the New York City subway system with painstakingly hand drawn maps. Also not very favorably reviewed.

Epicurious Recipes & Shopping List (Free) — Access Epicurious.com’s database of great recipes. I actually use and love this app, since it lets me indulge the amateur chef in me.

Zagat To Go ‘09 ($9.99) — You like restaurants? Zagat ratings will help you know what you’re getting in to. Is it worth $10? It may depend on how much you value your meals out.

Quickoffice Mobile Office Suite ($9.99) — Check out my thoughts and impressions here.

Gap StyleMixer (Free) — Coordinate Gap clothes. Could be useful if you want to outfit yourself entirely in Gap.

Nature

Money, learning, nature and pizza predilections are at the core of this ad. I’m starting to see the pattern here. Weird pairs tied together by linguistic or thematic similarity.

iXpenseIt ($4.99) — Watch what you spend by tracking expenses and preparing a monthly budget. There’s also a free Lite version available.

DailyFinance (Free) — AOL helps stock market junkies stay up to date with quotes, portfolio tracking and business news.

GuitarToolkit ($9.99) — Before I traded my acoustic guitar for a 12-inch PowerBook G4, this was one of my staples. Now it’s a cool $10 home screen icon.

Lonely Planet Mandarin Phrasebook ($9.99) — A globetrotter’s best friend. Or maybe just if you order a lot of Mandarin food.

iBird Explorer Plus ($19.99) — I’m not a particularly avid birder, but I’ve still been tempted to pick this up. Just think of how many birds you could randomly identify. Now that’s an app.

Pizza Hut (Free) — Order pizza without using your vocal chords or a computer! Truly, the future is upon us.

Pass

Use your iPhone to help you find things, pass things (that sounds bad), read things and learn how to read to begin with. They don’t mention it here, but it can also teach you math and science. Kids, don’t worry about going to school anymore.

Fandango (Free) — The online ticketing service has created this app to help you find info about movies and buy tickets to see them.

G-Park ($0.99) — Find your car in that ridiculous infinite field of concrete outside the local Costco. Those colored, numbered pillars do nothing.

VocabWiz College Vocabulary ($4.99) — Use this app to show up snooty college guys in bars, just like Matt Damon.

365 Crosswords ($4.99) — Fight off boredom with word games. That’s what I do. Or else Sudoku, which is like this but with less hard brain thinking.

Classics ($2.99) — Public domain books made to look very, very pretty on the iPhone. One reviewer faulted it for not including Twilight. That’s the primary reason to buy, in my opinion.

ABC Animals ($1.99) — Amuse and educate the kids, or help eliminate the secret shame of your illiteracy. Not that you’d be reading this if you were illiterate, I suppose.

Oh, and in case you weren’t aware, Apple makes sure to mention in each of these adds that there are now over 75,000 apps available in the App Store. Nothing like sheer volume to outshine the competition without mentioning them directly.