Software : iPad finally gets a decent official YouTube app

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• iPad finally gets a decent official YouTube app
• Windows Phone 8 app sales reportedly surge with ambiguous data
• iTunes launched in 56 countries today

iPad finally gets a decent official YouTube app Posted: It's been a busy few days for the folks at Google as the company announced on Tuesday that it's rolling out yet another update - this time one for its YouTube app. Available now in iTunes, the update is optimized for the iPad and iPhone 5. Google first pressed play on its independent YouTube app for iPhone and iPod touch three months ago, conspicuously leaving Apple's tablets out of the loop. With the iPhone 5's 4-inch screen, the app needed a retooling that fitted YouTube flicks into its entire screen space, not mention filled out the iPad. While its design is catered to conform to the devices' larger screen sizes, the update also adds enhanced AirPlay support, bolstering videos streamed onto Apple TVs - perfect for HDTVs and other large viewing apparati. Small things As part of the update, videos start faster and run with less hiccups, a Google blog post boasted, and VoiceOver improves accessibility. YouTubers can now tap a logo to open their channel guides and click on links within video descriptions. Adding and removing videos from playlists is another update feature. The YouTube update is rolling out globally today and follows the Google team's earlier news that Gmail version 2.0 is now available for iOS. That update came after another Gmail update, this time for Android, headed out on Monday. iOS 6 is the first Apple operating system to not include preinstalled a YouTube update, just as it shed Google Maps. Google, however, isn't letting its fans wallow in inconvenience.

Windows Phone 8 app sales reportedly surge with ambiguous data Posted: It seems Windows Phone 8 is a smash hit with developers, or at least Microsoft seems to think so. Speaking out on Twitter over the weekend, Windows Phone Apps Team Senior Director Todd Brix claimed an impressive 100 percent growth in app revenue and downloads in the wake of Windows Phone 8's release. "If you build it, they will come," Brix tweeted. "100%+ increase in WP developer revenue & app downloads since WP8 launch in Nov." Monday he added some clarification to the statement, which had already started generating buzz and more than a few calls for specific sales data. "100% = growth 30 days after 10/29 [announcement] in US. Just sharing a nice trend FWIW. Not announcing raw sales," he wrote. Talking in trends Taken simply as a general trend, improved sales and downloads for Windows Phone apps is to be expected. While Windows Phone 8 hasn't exactly set the sales charts on fire, it's at least outperforming its predecessor. According to Microsoft, last month it sold four times as many Windows Phone 8 handsets as it did smartphones for the same time in 2011. Of course, without any data for context that could still indicate a lackluster launch, but it would at least be a lackluster launch four times better than the year before. So with four times as many Windows Phone 8 handsets sold, we'll buy it that the Windows Phone 8 app ecosystem received a boost as well. The devil is in the details An increase of 100 percent or more seems a bit of a stretch, but certainly possible. After all, very few new apps were being released a month prior to the Windows Phone 8 launch, as many developers saved their apps for the new mobile OS. The initial numbers could be shockingly low, or the new download statistics could be staggeringly high. However, without actual sales data in hand it's easy to assume the worst, especially when competitors like Apple and Google are all too eager to make even the smallest milestone known to the world. The continued lack of specificity from Microsoft is worrying, suggesting that the software giant is not as proud of the data as it claims to be. Just sharing a troubling trend, for what it's worth.

iTunes launched in 56 countries today Posted: Monday's rumors of an Apple iTunes event about to take place in Moscow seriously underestimated the scale of Apple's impending announcement. The Cupertino company launched iTunes in not one, not two, and not three, but 56 additional countries Tuesday, nearly doubling the number of nations that have the music store. The day prior, it seemed as if iTunes might launch in Russia, and possibly in Turkey and Lebanon on top of that. But those guesses missed the mark by over 50, as the iTunes music store is now available in a total of 119 countries across the globe. iTunes music, movies and Match Apple stressed in its announcement that many countries' iTunes music store selections are filled with local music from "thousands of independent labels" as well as the usual international stuff. "The iTunes Store features local artists including Elka in Russia, Sezen Aksu in Turkey, AR Rahman in India, and Zahara in South Africa, international artists including The Beatles, Taylor Swift and Coldplay, and world-renowned classical musicians including Lang Lang, Yo Yo Ma and Yuja Wang," Apple's announcement read. iTunes Match, Apple's music library cloud storage service, is also available now in all countries that have access to iTunes. In addition, Apple announced that movies are now available through iTunes in Russia, Turkey, India and Indonesia, and that more countries will gain access to movie downloads in the future. Is iTunes available in my country? The iTunes app store is already available in 155 countries, but those living in a place where iTunes music was previously unavailable may be wondering whether that changed today. Apple focused on Russia, Turkey, India and South Africa in its official announcement, but when queried a PR representative for the iPhone maker sent TechRadar a list of all 56 countries in which iTunes is newly available. While we won't list all of the names, notable additions include several African nations, including Botswana, Egypt and Kenya, while Saudia Arabia and United Arab Emirates got store access too. Bahrain, Bermuda, Fiji, Israel, Indonesia, Lebanon, Mongolia and Nepal were also part of the iTunes music list. Apple likely hoping to boost iPhone and iPod sales around the world by giving new populations access to iTunes' reported 20 million songs.

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