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Apple: One million Lion downloads in first day
You told us a lot of you had already downloaded Lion, but now Apple's gone ahead and put any doubts about this $29.99 update's popularity to rest. A cool one million downloads of Lion have been registered in the first day of availability. That's faster than any other OS release in the company's history, which lends perhaps a bit more weight to Apple's "best OS we've ever made" claim. Still on the fence yourself? Maybe our Lion review will push you one way or t'other.
App Store downloads overtake iTunes music downloads
Right after Apple's announcement that App Store downloads had passed 15 billion, Asymco ran some numbers and concluded that App Store downloads have surpassed iTunes music downloads. Asymco based its conclusion on Apple's announcement only one month earlier that iTunes song downloads had passed 15 billion. Since App Store downloads have grown at a far faster rate than music downloads over the life of both stores, Asymco's most likely correct that app downloads have passed song downloads. According to Asymco's data, app downloads amount to at least 31 million per month, while around 12 million songs are downloaded each month. That's an explosive rate of growth for the App Store, especially since it took nearly seven years for music downloads to pass 15 billion while app downloads passed the same milestone in three years. To get a visual idea of how quickly the App Store's taken off compared to music downloads, head to Asymco and check out the data graphs. But while you're there, try not to snicker at the tiny orange line representing iBooks downloads...
App Store hits 15 billion downloads, $2.5 billion paid by Apple to developers
It's hard to believe that the App Store has only been around for three years, but it's easy to believe that its successes are many. Very, very many. Apple has just announced that it has rolled over the 15 billion mark for downloads, that from a selection of 425,000 apps. Apple's proud of paying $2.5 billion to app developers and we're pretty sure those developers are proud to be a part of that figure -- even if they grumble about the 30 percent they're losing for the privilege.
The Daily Grind: Do you prefer digital copies or boxed copies of games?
Long ago, you had one way of obtaining a new game -- you went to a store that carried video games and brought it home. The advent of digital distribution has changed that, however -- it's quite easy to pick up a new game on Steam or via download, with certain games like Global Agenda primarily seeing distribution via digital outlets. Considering that most games offer a client download and patches will frequently update the entire game anyhow, getting a box almost seems quaint. Of course, if you're used to having a hard copy on hand, it might not even be an issue of whether or not it's worth buying a boxed copy. You want a game, you go out and buy it. So when you have the option, do you head out to the mall and pick up a boxed copy to have a physical representation of the game? Or do you just download and not fuss about with what amounts to sentimental clutter? Every morning, the Massively bloggers probe the minds of their readers with deep, thought-provoking questions about that most serious of topics: massively online gaming. We crave your opinions, so grab your caffeinated beverage of choice and chime in on today's Daily Grind!
Waiting for a taste of the iCloud? Check your iPhone
The waiting, a great man once said, is the hardest part. And while seeing all of today's WWDC promises come to fruition will certainly take patience, iPhone owners can take some solace in the fact that the updates have already begun. At least a portion of the new functionality is now available by opening up the "Purchased" tab in iOS 4's App Store, revealing a history of apps that have been downloaded with your account, including those not currently on your device. Those not presently installed will feature a cloud icon, making it possible to re-download them onto the handset. It's not quite iOS 5, sure, but it's a start. [Thanks everyone who sent this in]
Lonely Planet's Best in Travel free on iBookstore
Lonely Planet has a deal going on in the iBookstore to advertise some of its published offerings there. For a limited time, the Best in Travel 2011 book can be downloaded in iBooks for free. The book ranks the top 10 places to visit around the world this year, featuring special one-time only events and even a travel planner, along with value tips and other fun extras. The download is free until June 14, so feel free to grab it right now in iBooks. Lonely Planet has other books for sale on Apple's service, and a quick browse through the top free books in iBooks shows there's some recipe guides and Apple's own iPad User Guide to be had right now. I've really been using iBooks a lot lately as both an e-reader and a reference app, and while most free e-book lists are dominated by copyright-free classics, hopefully we'll see some newer titles like this come out and provide some solid free content on the iBookstore.
Amazon launches Mac Download Store with more than 250 titles
Yes, it's another store within a store at Amazon, this time a Mac Download Store. While software downloads certainly aren't anything new for the online retailer, the Mac store does actually boast a wider variety of titles than Amazon's Windows download section, including games like Dragon Age: Origins and Civilization V, and applications like Microsoft Office and Adobe Photoshop Elements. All told, there's more than 250 titles currently available -- not exactly a rival to Apple's own Mac App Store, but a more than respectable start. Of course, no store launch is complete without a sale, and Amazon has kicked things off with two: a free download of Airport Mania, and $5 off your first paid download. Hit up the source link below to check it out.
Angry Birds hits 200 million download mark
The Next11 Conference, a two-day event where "people discuss and experience how the consumer on the Internet will be evolving," held host to the latest milestone for Angry Birds: a combined 200 million downloads. Admittedly, it's available on everything ... ever. Rovio's Mighty Eagle and Angry Birds creator himself, Peter Vesterbacka, took to the stage yesterday (via TechCrunch) and padded the announcement with another figure: five million web downloads, just a week after the Google I/O 2011 announcement of a browser-based version. Hit the jump for a video where Vesterbacka reveals the news.
Google reaches 100 millionth Android activation, 400,000 Android devices activated daily
36 OEMs, 215 carriers, 450,000 Android developers all over the world, Google wants to say "thank you!" Android has recently crossed its 100 millionth activation milestone, and is also growing at its fastest pace yet: 400,000 devices activated each and every day. There are now 200,000 Android applications in the Market, which have accumulated a total of 4.5 billion installs, at a rate which Google actually says is accelerating. These figures have all been cited as a way to illustrate Google's mobile momentum, which is evidently not even thinking about slowing down.
NPD: Mobile accounts for half of digital game downloads
NPD has released a report that cites mobile games as a big driver for digital downloads overall. Digital game consumption has been growing in leaps and bounds lately, and according to the latest report, nearly half of all of those digital game downloads come from mobile game platforms, of which, we already know, the iOS platform makes up a huge part. Of course, iOS and the App Store can't be given credit for all of the digital game download trend -- while the App Store certainly has its share of popularity, there are other platforms, such as Xbox Live, Steam and Nintendo's WiiWare and DSiWare, that are also driving game downloads forward. But Apple's App Store is still the mobile standard, and given that many people downloading apps are people who don't necessarily own other consoles or may not have downloaded apps before, iTunes is one avenue for the growing trend of purchasing games and other software. [via ME]
The Daily generated 800,000 downloads, $10 million loss in first quarter of operation
It's still too early to pass judgment on News Corp's daring venture into tablet-only newspapers, The Daily, but at least we now have an idea of how much it costs to get a project like this off the ground. Having spent $30 million developing the concept before launch, the company's latest quarterly reports indicate another $10 million loss was incurred on the early operations of The Daily. That's resulted in 800,000 total downloads of the iPad-only app, though a breakdown of how many of those were just trying out the free trial and how many have stuck around for the paid version hasn't been forthcoming. News Corp stresses that The Daily is still a work in progress, one that we've heard may also be making its way onto Android tablets, and looks very much committed to seeing its plan through to the end. So if this digital-only, subscription-paid news idea fails, it won't be for lack of trying.
Harmonix on the state of post-MTV Rock Band DLC
In a new interview with Game Informer, Chris Rigopulos, VP of strategy and business development at Harmonix, addresses the state of downloadable content for Rock Band now that the studio is no longer under MTV. Rigopulos said that Harmonix has "effectively severed all ties with MTV, and all proceeds from Rock Band belong to Harmonix." He explained that music selection for the Rock Band series had been a "collaborative effort between Harmonix and MTV," noting that most of the downloadable tracks we've seen this year were selected before Harmonix was sold by Viacom (last year). This month's downloadable tracks, said Rigopulos, will be the "first glimpse" at the music the company has secured without MTV. Rigopulos doesn't expect any "dramatic changes" to the music selection process, though he cheekily added, "I doubt you will see any more SpongeBob SquarePants packs." Rigopulous also discussed the overall success of Rock Band's DLC enterprise, noting that the series recently surpassed 100 million song downloads.
New downloads window coming to Safari in Lion
A few days ago it was discovered that Apple is building in a new feature to Safari called Reading List. The feature works like Instapaper and allows users to save web pages for later viewing. Now Italian Mac site Melamorsicata.it has discovered another tweak set for Safari v. 5.1 in Lion -- a revision of the downloads window. As you can see in the image above, Safari now sports a downloads button next to the Google search field (this button's location is presumably changeable, as are all Safari toolbar buttons). When you have an active download in progress, the button will show a blue progress bar, ala the progress bar found on app icons when you are downloading and installing them on an iOS device. Clicking on the downloads button will bring up a new pop-up menu that displays all current and past downloads. This isn't an earth shattering feature, but it will make it easier for novice users who aren't familiar with calling up the downloads window to find it.
Apple tweaks app ranking system
Apple has reportedly modified its app ranking system to include criteria besides the number of application downloads. This change was noticed by ad network executives and other companies that monitor the ranking of applications in Apple's iOS App Store. Facebook, Skype and Pandora are three applications whose spike in ranking caught the eye of many people. Facebook moved from #13 to #1, Skype from #33 to #11 and Pandora from #22 to the top ten. Before last week, these apps were steady in their rankings, leading many to believe that Apple modified something in its ranking system to produce these jumps. Read on to find out what criteria Apple may have changed.
BlackBerry Messenger 6.0 screenshots leak, show hints of OS 6.1
T-minus three weeks and counting to RIM's annual BlackBerry World conference, and the rumblings surrounding Canada's most famous handset maker are getting harder to ignore. Today's delectable spoonful comes in the form of leaked screenshots of BlackBerry Messenger 6, which could be released at or around the same time as BlackBerry OS 6.1 this spring. BBM enthusiasts will obviously note the enhanced colors and icons here, lending further credence to rumors that these were indeed sourced from the next major BB OS point release. Hit the source for a few more looks, but we're passing along fair warning to not install any BBM 6.0 builds you see floating around. Patience, or so we hear, is a virtue.
Sprint Music Plus app gives users yet another mobile jam portal... if you're cool with RealNetworks
Tired of waiting for Google Music? How tired? If you've been pushed to your wit's end, and you're willing to give RealNetworks one last chance to actually impress you, Sprint's got a new service for you to dip your toes into. Sprint Music Plus is a newfangled app that can be accessed via the carrier's website and on Android / BlackBerry handsets, serving as a "single, convenient destination for customers to discover, purchase and play individual and bundled offers of full track music, albums, ringtones and ringback tones." Naturally, everything in here is DRM-free, and aside from being a hub for transactions, it doubles as a media management tool where playlists can be created and new content can be recommended based on prior purchases. We're told that customers can receive a discount if angling for a bundle -- which includes a full track, ringtone and ringback tone -- with $0.69 to $1.29 (per tune, mind you) being thrown straight to your Sprint bill. Care to give it a spin? Android users can head just past the break for a QR code, while everyone else can give those source links a hit.
Samsung Apps store crosses 100 million downloads
Alright, so it may have a bit of an advantage being on both cellphones and TVs, but that's not stopping Samsung from boasting that its Apps store has now joined the 100 million download club. That comes just ten months after it launched, and it looks like Samsung can largely thank Europe for reaching the milestone -- France had the most number of downloads followed by Germany and Spain, and the three countries combined accounted for 40 percent of all downloads from the store, which now has more than 13,000 apps.
Firefox 4 clocks up 7.1 million downloads within first 24 hours, fails to beat Firefox 3 record (updated)
We noted Firefox 3's spectacular eight million downloads in a day when discussing the recent launch of IE9, and that mark shall live on as a record for another day. Firefox 4 looks to have a had a thoroughly successful debut, going past the five million milestone within the first 24 hours of its release, but it hasn't quite been able to overshadow its predecessor. And before you go comparing its numbers to the latest Internet Explorer, do be cognizant that FF4 released on a wider set of platforms, rendering direct stat comparisons a little dicey. That's not stopping StatCounter, however, who notes that the latest Firefox already has a 1.95 percent share of the browser market, almost exactly double what IE9 can claim so far. Better get working on that XP compatibility, eh Microsoft? Update: Mozilla CEO Gary Kovacs has the final stats for the first 24 hours and it's actually even higher than we thought: 7.1 million downloads around the globe. That's in addition to three million users already running the release candidate for Firefox 4, which turned into the final release. Good work!
Sony: every NGP game will be available to download, some might not even make it to physical release
We're filling the time between now and the NGP's holiday season release the best way we know how: by hunting down yet more information about it. Andrew House, the man in charge of Sony Computer Entertainment Europe, has delivered the latest tidbit in an interview with MCV, where he states unequivocally that every game on the next PlayStation Portable will be available to buy as a download. Notably, he also expresses Sony's desire to have simultaneous distribution in both digital and physical channels, but that sounds a lot less concrete than his promise that every game will be downloadable. Digital-only games also figure prominently in Andrew's vision of the NGP's future, as he expects them to diversify choice for consumers alongside the big time titles like Uncharted. To learn more about Sony's replacement of UMDs with flash memory and the reasoning behind the PlayStation Suite, follow the source link below for the full interview.
Internet Explorer 9 hits 2.35 million downloads in first 24 hours, we're mildly impressed
Okay, so 2.35 million downloads in a single day is nothing to scoff at, but it's also not a monumental achievement in terms of browser downloads in the first 24. A post to Internet Explorer's official blog used the word "wow" to describe the IE9 numbers, but considering Firefox 3 got the Guinness world record for most software downloads in a day, with 8 million way back in 2008, we're reluctant to call this news wow-worthy. Given, Firefox 3 was available for both Mac and PC, but it still beat Windows' new browser three times over. Don't get us wrong, we like IE9, but we still think a little bit of modesty goes a long way.
