August 11, 2008 — 07:43 AM PDT — by Don Reisinger —

Apple announced today that its users have already downloaded 60 million applications from the company’s App store and have enjoyed about $30 million sales in just the first month of availability.  And while Apple is obviously excited about the future of its App store, it’s quickly becoming apparent that moving forward, it’s the single most important element of iPhone sales.

When the iPhone was first released, it appealed to the early adopters who wanted 3G and some basic GPS Global Positioning System functionality instead of the junky EDGE we became accustomed to.  And although the applications were still an important piece of the iPhone-buying puzzle, it wasn’t the main reason most of us wanted Apple’s latest.

But now that most of those who wanted the iPhone already have it and the luster and hype has worn off, it’s the App store that will sell more iPhones and it’s that App store that will ensure that people continue to use Apple’s devices through future generations.

Unlike anything on the iPhone, which as a device, is nominally better than the BlackBerry research-in-motion-4q-profit-soars Apr-3-2008 , the App store gives users the ability to extend the iPhone experience and create a greater value proposition for those that are looking for it to do more.

The iPhone, by itself, is a somewhat dull device after you get over touching the screen of a cell phone.  Sure, it’s a fine device, but it’s just another cell phone with a unique way of interacting with it before applications are added.  But once applications are added to the device, it becomes a far more compelling product with a series of great applications that easily make it the best cell phone on the market for both consumers and the enterprise, alike.

The App store is the key to more iPhone 3G sales.  For all those that are willing to wait and see if they want an iPhone 3G, the applications are the main reason they would want to pick one up.  Looking for some productivity tools or good games on your cell phone?  The App store can provide it.

Beyond that, it’s the App store applications that most people will show off to non-iPhone users and the one element that will help Apple sell more iPhones.  Sure, it may go beyond the applications, but we can’t forget that most people have already seen the run-of-the-mill Apple apps, but few have experienced the breadth and quality of countless applications from skilled developers.

The App store is the key to the iPhone’s success going forward.  And although 3G and location-based GPS is an important element in the success of the iPhone’s enterprise business, we can’t forget that the App store provides a whole new level of interactivity and usefulness that will bring more people to Apple’s side and will create a value proposition that should see the iPhone rise to a new level of success.

credit - http://mashable.com/2008/08/11/app-store-is-the-key-to-iphones-success/

July 24, 2008 — 09:30 AM PDT — by Paul Glazowski —

Seeing as how Web services today are becoming more and more multi-faceted and multi-functional, particularly in the social networking and social media space, it really is open to debate what is and what is not part of a specific segment of the market. Where blogging starts and where networking ends, for instance, is a gray area that has grown ever larger with time. Mobile utilities in particular have evolved to contain powerful assets that accomplish several tasks at once.

Perhaps nothing better exemplifies this fact than the items which can now be found within Apple’s App Store, where the supply of downloads for the iPhone (and its slightly-less-phenomenal sibling, the iPod touch) expand with each passing week. So we focus today on that very storefront, to determine which applications now available can help to best enable mobile blogging in all its myriad forms and purposes, wherever cellular, Wi-Fi, and/or GPS signals might be found.

Good ol’ run-of-the-mill blogging: TypePad and WordPress

If we burrow down to the core of the blogging world, there are several platforms which sport robust frameworks, and many of them are free to use. WordPress, TypePad, Blogger, Live Spaces, are just a few that sport mass userships and audiences. But only two currently reside as native, officially-released applications within the iPhone/iPod touch paradigm. They are, as we noted recently, TypePad and Wordpress.

WordPress arrived with its own utility after TypePad had introduced itself to users. Both have received good reviews so far. And why not, really. Both aptly manage the basic tasks of posting and editing blogs, and each enables the user to upload photos from a library or take new images via the iPhone’s onboard camera.

I have already offered my own impressions about both applications, and happen to favor TypePad’s application a bit more than the WordPress release because TypePad provides support for English and French, but both essentially get the same job done similarly well. Neither path will lead you astray. Quite honestly, as I said before, one’s choice of application will naturally fall to whichever platform one prefers as it appears on the desktop, and whether one has invested much time in either setting.

Micro-blogging

There are even more choices in the microblogging realm, and if photos are one’s main source of intrigue, the list is even more voluminous. So let’s dig in. To start, there are the Twitter-specific applications: Twitterific, available for free and ad-supported [iTunes]; or as a paid-for premium version [iTunes]; Twittelator [iTunes]; and Twinkle [iTunes].

My experiences, coupled with feedback from others tells me Twitterific is the most pleasant, as it has the benefit of housing a browser within.

If you’re one to click on URLs posted by friends, this is definitely a convenient feature. And in my trials, it has proven quite reliable. It is most useful due to the fact that it makes any transfer out of Twitterific and into Safari Mobile unnecessary. Once you’ve taken a look at whatever webpage you were directed to, you can close the browser and immediately carry on with reading incoming feeds. No need to repetitively enter and exit applications.

Twinkle is aesthetically pleasing, no doubt, and it adds a location dimension to facilitate conversation among users within a given area. But the application has been known to crash regularly. According to Tapulous, Inc, the creator of Twinkle, an update should arrive this Friday, July 25, to fix bugs and “other minor problems.”

Miscellaneous and (even more) multi-functional

Here’s where it all comes down to personal tastes and desires. Some applications will connect you to numerous services for easy, synchronized posting. Others will help you satisfy only your tendencies as a photo blogger. Some will help you connect with friends, micro-blog a bit, and even post duplicate hellos and how-are-yous to Twitter. That’s because… well… it all comes back to Twitter, doesn’t it? Without further adieu, here are some items for your consideration listed in no particularly prearranged order.

LifeCast [iTunes]: Manage your day’s events in organized fashion. Want to keep what you do for work and for play exclusive? No problem. LifeCast is about keeping things tidy. Also, non-English speakers will enjoy its slightly multi-lingual reach. French, German, Italian, and Spanish are all supported. Also, if you’d like to post text to Blogger, you may. The same goes for Tumblr (photos, too). Geo-tagging comes with.

Bluepulse [iTunes]: We gave this a brief review some days ago. And while it wasn’t my personal cup of tea, it’s something that others have shown an affinity for. If you’d like something Twitter-esque (with a Twitter connection, to boot), albeit in a way that allows you to message multiple people of your choosing — rather than, say, everyone on your friends and followers list(s) — this one’s a treat. The layout may take some getting used to, though. It appears designed to make existing Bluepulse users comfortable when making “the switch.”

ShoZu [iTunes]: If this one were to be described in a single word (not yet recognized by the grammar police), it would no doubt be “awesomeness.” You need only look at the list of supported sites and services to get a grasp on what this ShoZu is all about. It is the Swiss Army knife of online social interaction (so far as photo uploads and status updates and things are concerned, anyway).

Pownce [iTunes]: Despite what the heads at Pownce say, this one’s original intent was most definitely to give Twitter a little slap-slap. Which seemed like it might’ve been possible, until it didn’t. For what it’s worth, it’s still a nifty service. If you want it on your iPhone, the download is available.

Kyte [iTunes]: Mobile photo blogging is super cool, for sure. But mobile slideshow blogging is exponentially more kick-ass. Kyte makes that happen. For this one you might need to take a few minutes to craft something nice, but it’s worth it.

Clowdy Photo Blogger [iTunes]: The name says it all. It also lets you see photos taken “nearby” to where you stand. A number of downloads currently available in the App Store do this as well, but Clowdy works the photo realm exclusively. It’s free, and it’s all of 0.1MB large.

Graffitio [iTunes]: This operates with the same location-based concept as Clowdy, but it’s text-based. The best way to explain it is to offer an example. Say you’re at a restaurant. You can check Graffitio to see if a Facebook-like “wall” has been created for the place. If so, you can post a public message to it. If a wall doesn’t exist, create one. If enough people participate in the experiment and visit various locations regularly, it starts to become a rather interesting series of whiteboards.

Speaking of Facebook, the Web’s largest social network (arguably) has its own application [iTunes], as many have already learned, and in some respects, it’s about blogging, too. If you’re one to routinely update your status, and your friends do too, what’s to say you all aren’t blogging? And with the recent update to the application, introduced late last week, you can post to your own wall as well as those of friends. Upload photos seamlessly too.

credit - http://mashable.com/2008/07/24/iphone-blogging/