Software : Holy app stores! Users may rack up 102B downloads this year |
- Holy app stores! Users may rack up 102B downloads this year
- Facebook, Twitter take advantage of iOS 7 release to redesign iOS apps
- Good news, Like-happy Facebookers - your thumbs ups count as free speech
- IE11 Release Preview ready for Windows 7, rated 30% faster than the competition
- Google may crumble stale web cookies with its very own ad tracker
- Updated: Apple launches iOS 7, here's how you can get it
| Holy app stores! Users may rack up 102B downloads this year Posted:  It may have felt like the entire world was trying to download iOS 7 all at once yesterday, but that pales in comparison to the number of mobile apps users will download over the next year or two. Gartner today announced that annual downloads from mobile app stores will reach 102 billion in 2013, nearly twice the 64 billion users racked up last year. Mobile app revenue will also increase from $18 million in 2012 to $26 billion this year, although free apps are expected to make up a whopping 91 percent of all downloads. If that isn't depressing enough news for gamers who prefer to pay up-front for their mobile apps, in-app purchases are forecast to account for 48 percent of all revenue by 2017, an 11 percent increase over last year. Reaching its peak?Gartner also predicts in-app purchases will account for 17 percent of developer revenue this year, increasing to a hefty 48 percent over the next four years. Although free apps currently make up 60 percent of the offerings in Apple's iOS App Store and 80 percent for the Android-based Google Play, the party is expected to plateau after next year. "We expect strong growth in downloads through 2014, but growth is forecast to slow down a bit in later years. Over time [users] accumulate a portfolio of apps they like and stick to, so there will be moderate numbers of downloads in the later years," explained Gartner research director Sandy Shen. Gartner's Brian Blau calls in-app purchases "a promising and sustainable monetization method" since users only shell out hard-earned cash when they feel it's worth it, which also offers developers additional incentive to create apps with "good design and performance."
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| Facebook, Twitter take advantage of iOS 7 release to redesign iOS apps Posted:  iOS 7 is Apple's most drastic operating system redesign yet, so it's only fitting apps would want to key into the new aesthetic too. Facebook, Twitter, Evernote and others all took cues from the flattened look of Apple's new OS, releasing updates for in the App Store left and right today. On the whole, the made-over applications should fit right in with iOS 7's non-skeuomorphic principles, though there are still shades of texture and depth. Most, however, fall in step with 7's style. We'll start with the big fish: Facebook released version 6.5 of its app, complete with "an all-new look and feel for iOS 7." You're too kind, responded iOS 7. New Facebook functionsWhile iOS 7 elements have slipped into Facebook's app (the skimmed down top section screams "7"), Facebook took it one step further and created an entirely new way to navigate on the iPhone. Most notably it placed the navigation bar along the bottom of the screen. Tapping here will pull up the News Feed, Requests, Messages, Notifications and More. "More" queues Timeline, groups, events and other info.
What's really dynamic, as reported by Engadget, is that as you pick between the five main tab options, the screen will automatically switch to whatever you're looking at. The different pages will automatically save on each screen, so you can read a new message then pick up where you left off in your News Feed without having to scroll back through previously-viewed content. The More option will also remember where you've been, turning it into a more customizable creature than simply giving you "more" of the options you don't really want. The navigation changes are only coming to the iPhone, and while iPhones running iOS 6 and iOS 5 will support the updated app, some design elements will differ. Twitter and a whole lot moreTwitter meanwhile also retooled its app for iOS 7, though the application is compatible with iOS 6 and iOS 5 just like Facebook. The core functions are largely the same, but Twitter has cut down the top tool bar, sticking with a basic blue and white scheme and line-drawn looking icons.
Evernote took, well, note of the "clean, simplicity of iOS 7" in version 7.0 of its app, plus added some navigation functions like jumping from your most recent note back to the home screen. There's also a new audio recorder that should make it easier to listen and type at the same time. The whole app has been stripped down, making accessing main Evernote functions markedly quicker. eBay, Kindle, Foursquare, Pocket, Yahoo Weather, Pandora (as iTunes Radio releases...interesting) and plenty more took advantage of iOS 7's release to tinker with their iOS apps, all of which you can check out in the App Store right now. |
| Good news, Like-happy Facebookers - your thumbs ups count as free speech Posted:  It turns out Facebook may have been right all along, and "Likes" really are a protected form of free speech. A case that began in 2009 when six of Sheriff BJ Roberts' deputies Liked the Facebook page of a political opponent has resulted in a ruling that Facebook Likes are protected by the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. When Roberts was re-elected, he fired the six deputies who had shown support for his opponent on Facebook. The firings were deemed illegal today by the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals in a ruling that will certainly have positive repercussions for chronic Facebook Likers down the line. To Like or not to LikeAn earlier ruling in this case determined that making a political statement requires more than simply clicking a Like button, but today's decision supersedes the earlier ruling with the assertion that Liking a political page on Facebook is the online equivalent of posting a sign in your front yard, which is already considered a protected form of speech. "That a user may use a single mouse click to produce that message that he likes the page instead of typing the same message with several individual key strokes is of no constitutional significance," the court determined this morning. The sheriff's deputies aren't getting their jobs back, but now they're free to sue their former boss for discriminating against them based on their protected speech. What does this mean for the future? With the precedent that Facebook activity falls under free speech protections, employees in the U.S. can finally Like whatever they want without fear of persecution. And to think we came so close to the brink of another dark age! |
| IE11 Release Preview ready for Windows 7, rated 30% faster than the competition Posted:  Microsoft is trying to shed the negative image that Internet Explorer has garnered over the years with the latest version of its browser, Internet Explorer 11. IE11 Release Preview for Windows 7 is available for download today, and with it comes a number of under-the-hood improvements, especially in the speed department. It's at least 30% faster than other browsers, according to Internet Explorer Group Managers Sandeep Singhal and Rob Mauceri in an official blog post today. That's 9% faster than IE10 and a 5% improvement over the IE11 Developer Preview Microsoft released in July. Of course, these are Microsoft's figures, so some independent testing is needed to verify the company's claims. Making a faster IE11In addition to claiming 30% faster than its nearest competitive browser, Internet Explorer 11 supports more web standards than before and uses new F12 developer tools. "Now that the Pointer Events specification is a Candidate Recommendation at the W3C, IE11 supports an un-prefixed version of the emerging standard," wrote Singhal and Mauceri. "With Pointer Events support across the full range of Windows devices (and soon to other browsers), Web sites can easily build experiences that work equally well with mouse, keyboard, pen and touch." Other standards implemented include the Standard Delivery Profile for Closed Captioning and the latest Tracking Preference Expression (DNT) draft compliant with W3C. "For developers, IE11 supports the latest Web standards and technologies, making it easier to build sites that work across devices," the managers explained. "The new F12 tools in IE11 enable developers to build high performance Web experiences, faster and more efficiently." IE11 release dateThese perks for developers should be passed onto the web-surfing consumers who give Internet Explorer another chance. Microsoft began a "Rethink Your Relationship With Internet Explorer" advertising campaign today, touting a website that isn't shy about its past mistakes, BrowserYouLovedToHate.com. The new beginning for its famous and sometime infamous browser doesn't have a firm release date yet for Windows 7, but Windows 8 users updating to Windows 8.1 should see the browser on Oct. 17. |
| Google may crumble stale web cookies with its very own ad tracker Posted:  Cookies have long been used to identify internet users and direct relevant advertising to their digital apparatuses, but Google apparently believes that method has become as stale as baked goods bearing their namesake. USA Today reported on Sept. 17 that search giant Google may be planning to ditch web browser cookies in favor of its own anonymous identifier for advertising, or AdID. According to the unnamed, loose-lipped source who tipped off the newspaper, AdID would effectively replace the traditional method companies like Google use to present web advertising to consumers, while at the same time offering them more anonymity. Although Google hasn't made such plans public, the company certainly has good reason for spearheading the effort - after all, roughly a third of the company's worldwide revenue is generated from advertising. Cookie monsterWhile most internet users are at least familiar with the term "cookie," few probably realize what it actually is: A tiny bit of text containing an identification tag, which is passed from the browser to websites that communicate with it. In their purest form, cookies identify consumers to the website they visit - such as e-tailers remembering web logins upon subsequent visits - but they can also be used for more nefarious deeds. Last year, Google settled a case with the Federal Trade Commission over accusations it had its own hand in the virtual cookie jar of Apple Safari users, which resulted in a $22.5 million (about £15.52m, AU$26.3m) "civil penalty" settlement. Google declined to comment specifically on any potential plans for AdID beyond recognizing that "we and others have a number of concepts in this area, but they're all at very early stages."
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| Updated: Apple launches iOS 7, here's how you can get it Posted:  Are you ready, iOS device owners? iOS 7 is here and ready for download. Apple today released its completely redesigned operating system, and the iPhone owners here in the TechRadar office are eagerly awaiting it to finish loading on their phones. An hour wait? We'll wait. Besides being a drastic visual departure from previous iOS iterations, iOS 7 comes packing a host of new features, from iTunes Radio to Control Center to AirDrop file sharing to improved multitasking functions. The update isn't perfect, as we found in our iOS 7 review, but overall it's a vast improvement over older iOSes. How to download iOS 7So, how to get the new and improved Apple operating system? First, remember the free update is available for the iPhone 5, iPhone 4S and iPhone 4 as well as iPad 2, iPad 3, iPad 4 and iPad mini, plus the 5th gen iPod touch, so if you're still rocking an iPhone 3GS, tough luck. Head on over to the Settings app on your device. Select General then Software Update and watch iOS 7 as it seeps into your device's veins. Apple will prompt you to verify a few settings after the update is complete, but after that you and your iOS 7-equipped device are good to go.
As those of us downloading iOS 7 over the air are discovering, a Wi-Fi connection is essential. The iPhone 5S and iPhone 5C, launching Friday, will come equipped with iOS 7 out of the box, so no need to download if you're picking up the new phones. The iTunes methodYou can also stick your compatible gadget into iTunes to pull in iOS 7. Plug your device into your computer, open iTunes and click on the type of device you wish to update. iTunes will prompt you to Check for Update, so go ahead and choose that option. Note that you will need at least iTunes 11.0.5 to download iOS 7 (Apple released iTunes 11.1 earlier today). For earlier adoptersIf you downloaded a dev edition of iOS 7, you'll need to download Apple's final version the same way you acquired the pre-release OS. You can find links to downloading here. For dev-edition owners who want to download via iTunes, connect and select the device in iTunes as non-dev-edition owners would. Then, hold down either Option or Shift (on a Mac or Windows PC) and click Update. Select the IPSW file you wish to download, then select Choose and watch iOS 7 arrive in all its finished glory. There's also an option to click on Restore and then select the IPSW, but existing files will disappear, as will settings. Backing up your data is a must. Update: As with most high-profile releases, iOS 7's launch isn't going off without a hitch. Including long wait times, users are reporting running into errors attempting to download the update. The issues are very likely due to a deluge of people trying to install the update ASAP, so your patience may need extra practice today. The best advice is to keep trying until error messages subside, and perhaps wait a few hours until the initial rush quiets down.
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