Apple Launches iPhone App Store (TechWeb)

TechWeb - InformationWeek - The App Store opened its virtual doors with about 500 applications for Apple's iPhone, ranging from games to business tools.

App Store now officially available

The App Store has been accessible for awhile now, but it is now official. Fire up your copy of iTunes and you'll be greeted with a new addition to the left hand navigation: App Store. As with the other sections of the iTunes Store you'll find a number of sections: New Apps, Top Apps, Top Free Apps, and more.The iPhone 2.0 firmware hasn't been released as of yet, but browsing the App Store should keep your mind off that for a little while.What is the first app you're going to download?Thanks to everyone who sent this in.Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

US iPhone, App Store mania builds as iPhone 2.0 launch nears

Even though the iPhone 3G won't be out in the US until tomorrow, users are already getting new software a day early. An update to iTunes, the launch of MobileMe, the introduction of the App Store, and some leaked iPhone 2.0 firmware offer plenty of pre-iPhone Day entertainment. Read More...

Apple posts App Store info: syncing and App Store troubleshooting

Apple has posted to KB articles that might be of some interest to the iPhone crazed out there: Syncing Applications from the App Store and Troubleshooting applications purchased from the App Store (which basically says you should delete the troublesome app and re-install it).The syncing article details how you get apps that you download from iTunes onto your iPhone (it functions in much the same way as syncing podcasts or music, you tell iTunes which apps, some or all, and there you go!). It also tells us what happens when you purchase an app directly on an iPhone and then sync to iTunes. The above message will pop up and ask if you want to transfer the apps to iTunes. If you do it will put them in the new Applications section of iTunes. Interestingly, if you sync your iPhone with an instance of iTunes that is not authorized with the same account as the one you used to buy an app, and you transfer said app to this unauthorized iTunes library the app transfers to iTunes but is deleted from the iPhone.Permalink | Email this | Comments

The strange economy of the App Store

A few App Store apps have already gotten the public browbeating for tweaking their prices, and here's another: as Johnathan notes, there's a new app on the top of the heap in the paid pile, and apparently the only reason "Units Convertor" (sic) is there is because it used to be free.We can't necessarily call them out for switching just to sit on top -- what would you do if you had a free app that was being downloaded like crazy and decided you wanted to make some money from it? But being that free apps far outweigh paid apps in terms of distribution, even the #21 free app can quickly jump to the top of the paid pile. We've already posted about how developers might be getting a raw deal out of the App Store (and some publishers have told us personally that they agree), but the economics are very interesting in there right now -- you've got a basically free economy, and considering that most of the apps out now are easy to make, it's just as likely that you'll see a free version of an app that does the same thing as a paid app.Of course, what's happening in there actually mirrors what's happening out here with software: some of the best applications around are actually being given away for free. We're still in a strange place with the App Store and its pricing, and you have to think that eventually things will settle down and the developers who deserve to get paid will.Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Ambrosia working on Mr. Sukdoku and Aki Mahjong Mobile for the App Store

touchArcade has a quick look up at Ambrosia's new version of the old Sudoku game for the iPhone, coming soo to an App Store near you. It looks like Sudoku to us -- there's numbers, squares, and entering one in the other with the touchscreen to fill out the puzzle. Yup, seems like if you want to play Sudoku, you'll be able to do it. Not a lot of extra flair, especially for $10 (there is a free version already on the web), but we'd guess it's not really needed in this case.And Ambrosia is also working on a version of Mahjong, called Aki Mahjong Mobile for the iPhone. They don't have video of that that we've seen, but work, they say, is progressing steadily towards an App Store launch.In terms of innovation, there's not a lot to find in these two games but every new game platform needs a few standbys to fill out the library (we'll almost certainly see Pac Man and Frogger clones in the App Store at launch, not to mention that we'll have to see a good poker game as well), and it looks like Ambrosia's ready to fill the quota for these two traditional games.Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments