TheAppleBlog

I’m exceedingly happy to tell you all about a brand-new series of articles we’re launching here at TheAppleBlog, entitled: The App Review.
Every other weekday, I’ll be sticking my big hands deep into the gaping jaws of the App Store and pulling out a fresh app for a top-down examination.
In each review, I’ll take the app [...]

If you’re an App Store watcher, like me, who enjoys nothing more than the occasional sift through the recent arrivals, you’ll likely have noticed the conspicuously timed arrival of a number of different band/musician applications over the past couple of days. Lady Gaga, All American Rejects, and The Pussycat Dolls are the ones I came [...]

The weekend seems to have rolled up super-fast, so welcome one and all to the Weekly App Store Picks.
Before we jump in to this week’s apps, let’s take a gander at recent happenings in the world of Apple.
First up, as a frequent tweeter, I was pleased to learn about desktop tweeting without a client app earlier [...]

The headline in this case is slightly misleading. The Presidents of The United States of America (remember Lump, anyone?) are giving you access to four Presidents’ albums (all the ones the band owns the rights too), plus rarities and b-sides. The key word there is “access,” because while you can listen to the songs as [...]

As most savvy technology readers know, the Digital Millennium Copyright Act prohibits “circumventing” digital rights management (DRM) and “other technical protection measures” used to protect copyrighted works. While this ban was meant to deter copyright infringement, many corporations have misused the law to chill competition, free speech, and fair use. Every three years, the U.S. [...]

Back in the day, you used to have to count the hours until your favorite sports team took the field or court, and there was precious little to do in between games. Fortunately, now there are a metric ton of apps in the App Store that help you while away the hours until tipoff or [...]

Apple may or may not be thinking about it this way, but the iPhone App Store is fast becoming a moral battleground for the gaming and entertainment industry.
Forget the ESRB, forget the MPAA, the new moral authority developers and studios have to contend with is Apple’s App Store reviewers, and they may be setting the [...]

If you’re a business, it’s hard to plan your budget, release schedule, promotional work, etc. around an app’s release in the iPhone’s App Store, since you basically submit your application and then wait for Apple to get around to approving it, the time frame for which is inconsistent and not at all transparent. Well, one [...]

Microsoft tried to generate a bit of buzz yesterday with a press event in Barcelona at which they unveiled three new technologies which are designed to help enhance their mobile customers’ experience. Enhance how, you ask? By getting them as close as possible to owning an iPhone, even though they still just have some Windows [...]

Get your spoon and prepare to swallow a whole tub of awesome because we’ve got the freshest picks from the App Store to stuff in your mouth.
Before we get in to the latest releases, I’ve got a couple of interesting picks from the week’s Apple news.
First big thing, file sharing has been activated for MobileMe. [...]

We here at TheAppleBlog have posted a fair bit about Smule and their iPhone/iPod touch applications. Their apps are a bit off the wall (which seems like a winner in the App Store), but pack a lot of potential under the hood (as I indicated here). Well yesterday they proved it — in case you [...]

Don Witters, Chairman for the FDA Center for Devices and Radiological Health, gave a presentation at a healthcare IT conference last week during which he suggested that the FDA ought to have some regulatory jurisdiction over healthcare apps developed for the iPhone. His reasoning is that the FDA is responsible for all healthcare monitoring devices, [...]

Hey guys (and yes, I do just mean the guys on this one), lonely for Valentine’s Day? Need some positive reinforcement? Maybe just a quick, chauvinistic laugh? If you answered with an emphatic “Yes!” to any of the preceding and have an extra 99 cents to spend in the App Store, it appears to be [...]

Any of you who happen to follow me on Twitter will know that when the original method for unlocking iPhone emoji on non-Japanese phones had me fairly excited. Bubbly, even. I lived in Japan for a brief time, and I came to love, and even depend on emoji for communication. Imagine my chagrin when Apple [...]

The design of Apple’s App Store has been receiving a fair bit of criticism from both developer and customers alike. I’m not here to rehash all of that, but rather, to point out the results of a pricing experiment that App Cubby founder, David Barnard performed.
To give a quick backgrounder, a few weeks back David [...]

Wrapping up another seven days and bringing you the freshest picks, it’s time for this week’s App Store Roundup.
Tom Reetsman kicked off the week by calling Technologizer’s Ed Oswald out on an article he wrote about MobileMe, the general gist of it being that Oswald canceled MobileMe, only to lament the disappearance of his data.
By [...]

Here’s a story that gives new meaning to the term Apple fanboy. A 9-year-old youngster from Singapore, prompted by his younger sisters’ love of drawing, created an application for the iPhone called Doodle Kids. Budding artists create pictures by dragging a finger across the screen and then shake the phone to return to a blank [...]

I debated covering this, because in no way do I or TheAppleBlog endorse the cracking and/or illegal distribution of software, but it definitely deserves attention because of the potential implications it has for the future of Apple’s App Store. A new app available for jailbroken iPhones called “Crackulous” now allows owners of phones running the [...]

Apple doesn’t want you to find quality apps in the App Store. Yes, I said it. The way the App Store is currently designed, Apple would rather you spend your valuable time discovering apps either by going category by category or making “staff picks” for you.
Alternatively, you can just purchase 99-cent flatulence apps — [...]

Good Saturday and a Happy Weekend to one and all, it’s time to sit down, relax and wrap your big eyes round this week’s App Store Roundup.
This week on TheAppleBlog, we got in there super fast with an in-depth look at iMovie ‘09, iPhoto ‘09 and iWeb ‘09. Of particular note was our very own [...]