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Editorial: iPad app prices are out of control and will kill us all
Apple trained us well with the iPhone. All those $0.99 apps, $1.99 apps, and the occasional $4.99 (or so) app, padded by plentiful free apps, and we laid down / rolled over every time the App Store whistled. Sure, we admit it, after a few months of conditioning we even spent $9.99 on a couple apps, but boy did we do our homework on those ones! They had to be the best, they had to either be the "greatest game ever," or a vital piece of productivity software we could never live without. But something, somewhere broke within and we were left powerless as the iPad at last made its way out of the box and popped open the App Store for the first time. These pricey apps (the average seems to be double the iPhone price) are dangerously expensive, and we'd like everybody involved to think twice before beating our wallet into submission with these $9.99 and $14.99 "snacks." Follow with us after the break as we break this down, won't you?
iPad apps: defining experiences from the first wave
There are now over 1,348 approved apps for the iPad. That's on top of the 150,000 iPad-compatible iPhone programs already available in the App Store. When Apple's tablet PC launches, just hours from now, it will have a software library greater than that of any handheld in history -- not counting the occasional UMPC. That said, the vast majority of even those 1,348 iPad apps are not original. They were designed for the iPhone, a device with a comparatively pokey processor and a tiny screen, and most have just been tweaked slightly, upped in price and given an "HD" suffix -- as if that somehow justified the increased cost. Besides, we've seen the amazing potential programs have on iPhone, Android, Blackberry, Windows Mobile and webOS when given access to a touchscreen, always-on data connection, GPS, cloud storage and WiFi -- but where are the apps that truly define iPad? What will take advantage of its extra headroom, new UI paradigms and multitouch real estate? Caught between netbook and smartphone, what does the iPad do that the iPhone cannot? After spending hours digging through the web and new iPad section of the App Store, we believe we have a number of reasonably compelling answers. Update: Now includes Wormhole Remote, TweetDeck, SkyGrid, Touchgrind HD, GoToMeeting, SplitBrowser, iDisplay, Geometry Wars and Drawing Pad.
iPad apps now live in the App Store
Ready to start paying more for giant iPhone apps? Get that credit card ready -- tons of iPad apps are now live in the App Store, even though the iPad itself is under lock and key until Saturday. Lots of the expected stuff here, like Brushes, Twitteriffic, and the Wall Street Journal app, but there's a few things we're definitely interested in playing with, like the Desktop Connect VNC client, the ABC Player, and quite a few apps focused on printing. Yes, printing -- apparently the ability to print a document from the iPad will cost you at least $2, and probably more like $5. Magical and revolutionary, indeed. There's tons to look at, so hit the source link and let us know if you see anything interesting in comments.
Kleiner Perkins iFund doubles to $200m, investing in iPad apps from Shazam, ngmoco and more
Apple said it expects the iPad to be a "second gold rush" of app development as consumers rush to add content to their new devices, and it looks like Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers agrees: the venture capital firm just announced that it's expanding the iFund to $200 million to invest in iPad app development. If you'll recall, the iFund was originally announced alongside the iPhone OS 2.0 SDK, and provided $100 million in total investments to 14 iPhone app developers like Shazam, ngmoco, and Shopkick -- companies responsible for 18 apps that have hit the App Store Top 10. Keep in mind that this money was promised before the iPhone App Store was even launched -- so given how that bet paid off, it's not surprising that KPCB's decided to double down on the iPad, which looks like it'll have even higher app prices. Along with the announcement, some iFund devs announced the following iPad apps: Pinger: Doodle Buddy and Starsmash Booyah: MyTown, a popular location-based game Shazam: Shazam, optimized for the new screen size, ngmoco: Flick Fishing, a new MMO called CastleCraft, Charadium (described as "massively multiplayer Pictionary"), God Finger, We Rule, WarpGate, and one more we missed -- anyone catch it? GOGII: TextPlus Nothing too surprising here, but it looks like the heavy hitters are going to be on the iPad bandwagon from day one -- and pushing hard for this thing to be a success.
iPad's trailing costs: like the iPod touch, only bigger (updated)
Whether or not you think the iPad is in and of itself a worthy purchase, let's not forget the investment doesn't end at the retail counter or online shopping cart. Two little newsbits have popped up to serve as a helpful reminder to just that effect. The first comes way of verbiage from the iPad end-user licensing agreement dug up by MacRumors; in a nutshell, it suggests that while iPad OS 4.x updates will be provided gratis, subsequent releases (5.x, 6.x, and so on) could be offered at a premium, à la how iPod touch handles firmware. This is far from a confirmation, but it's well within Apple's right to do so. The second bit is derived by The Consumerist by way a supposed leaked app store video. Comparing the prices of iPad-optimized software with the iPhone equivalents showed quite a hefty uptick in consumer cost -- e.g., $4.99 Flight Control HD vs. $0.99 Flight Control. The pool of eight apps seen in the video would cost $53 in all to purchase, while the same set for the iPhone is $27. That screen real estate don't come cheap, y'know -- that is, should the prices seen prove legit. At this point we can't confirm, and more than likely, we won't know for sure until the eleventh hour. Update: The BBC has word direct from developers that iPad apps will indeed be costlier than their iPhone / iPod touch brethren. Multiple devs are cited in the Beeb's article saying that their 99 cent apps will grow in price to $1.99 and $2.99 price points for the slate device [thanks, Ben].
First Look: Carter's Encyclopedia of Health and Medicine for iPad
When I first heard about Carter's Encyclopedia of Health and Medicine, I thought: "Why aren't they just publishing this on the iBooks store?" After all, what can an app offer that an actual iBook won't? This video offers some answers. Instead of just a static book, this app provides searchable interactive skeletons (cute touch!), a topic-specific search history, and of course, all of the medical detail that a hypochondriac could wish for. The video shown here was provided by Keith Ahern, the CEO of mogeneration, an Australian development company. I'm a little surprised that so many developers are going head-to-head with the iBooks arena, but with a niche area like a medical reference, it looks like Carter's has a chance to stand its ground. This encyclopedia offers a beautiful reference work, but it may struggle with its relatively limited feature set when compared to a normal iBook offering. Carter's Encylopedia will debut at a $9.99 price point on the iPad App Store.
First Look: SketchNotes for iPad
When I first heard the idea for SketchNotes, I wasn't really that intrigued -- until I watched this video. Combining a text editor and a drawing tool, SketchNotes brings a nicely conceived idea to the table. On a platform that supports both text entry (via a physical or onscreen keyboard) and touch-based drawing, unifying these two concepts comes more naturally than I would have thought. Developed by Amanda Rosler of ZombieCatSoftware, SketchNotes looks like it will offer a simple but pleasant utility that will come in handy both when taking notes on the go and while sitting down at a desk or (more likely) table at Starbucks. It's yet another application that I look forward to trying out on a real device.
New screenshots of iPad apps start to make this thing seem less like a giant iPhone
We already knew that the iPad would be getting a few pieces of software that haven't shown up on its tinier, phone counterpart -- but now that a few screenshots of forthcoming apps for the device have reared their head, we're getting a clearer picture of just what this thing will feel like. If these shots of the new Yahoo! Entertainment, Bento, OmniGraffle, and Brushes are any indication, the iPad will be doing a lot more than just zooming up your Facebook profile. There's definitely an emphasis on content creation, file exporting (if not saving), and syncing with desktop versions of some of these apps, and Yahoo!'s work (alongside Brushes') shows that we've only begun to scratch the surface of what interfaces will be like on this device. We're sure the next week will be filled with all sorts of these kinds of leaks, but for now you can cherish the moment when you first laid eyes on your new way to check a TV schedule. A few more shots after the break, and lots more at the sources.
