Filed under: App Store

Game Developer Research has published its 2009/10 survey of video game developers, and the results are pretty impressive for the still relatively fledgling iPhone platform: The number of developers who are working on mobile games increased by 12 percent, and there are actually twice as many developers working on iPhone games as are working on the Nintendo DS and Sony's PSP handheld consoles.

That's a pretty amazing number, though it's not quite a surprise when you consider it. First of all, Nintendo DS and PSP publishing takes a much larger investment than Apple's $100 developer fee and an SDK download. Second, while the DS and the PSP are certainly selling a lot of games, they're not actually releasing nearly as many as the hundreds of thousands of apps on the App Store. Finally, new DS and PSP games sell for $30 or $40, while new App Store games sell much closer to 99 cents. So the fact that there are lots more people moving to the much more open and accessible platform isn't really that surprising.

Yes, PopCap is at it again -- this time, their crazy addictive (just like all of their games) take on the tower defense genre, Plants vs. Zombies, is headed off to the iPhone. They just tweeted confirmation a little while ago, and released this trailer showing all of the flower vs. undead action that we enjoyed so much in the other versions of the game, squeezed into the smaller screen of the iPhone.

They don't mention a price point, but I'm guessing it'll come out at $4.99, since that's what most of their releases have debuted at (though if you're patient, it'll probably drop down in price after a while). I'll tell you that yes, if you've never played it, the game is more than worth $5, but even if you don't believe me, you can go play it online for free and see what you think. PopCap is the master of dropping colorful graphics, sparkling gameplay, and constant little rewards on your plate, so PvZ on the iPhone will probably be yet another meal you won't want to stop eating.

If the iPhone has a leading app genre, aside from gaming, I'd say the current surge of "check-in" apps is probably it. Sure, back when the App Store first opened up, Twitter apps were everywhere (and they're still being made daily, it seems), but in terms of a genre that can only exist on a location-aware device like the iPhone, "check-in" apps like Foursquare, Gowalla, and so on, are making their mark right now. Here's news on two such apps continuing to grow on the App Store skyline.

First up, Loopt [iTunes link] has announced a partnership with a company called Mobile Spinach to start trying to monetize this kind of app usage. Mobile Spinach delivers local ads, and Loopt says that it'll be using their location-based social networking service to bring specials and deals to users from wherever they check-in from. Note that while Apple doesn't necessarily want location-based advertising as the sole purpose of an app, it seems to be all right with location-based advertising as an extra feature like this. Loopt tells us at TUAW that it's a great deal for the company, as it is "an easier and cost-effective way to do online/mobile advertising," and that it means "Loopt users can get great free offers on everyday things they want in need just by walking around in the neighborhood." It'll be interesting to see just how useful this extra advertising can be.

After the link below, read about how MyTown finally got the success they'd been hoping for.

If you don't have an iPhone 3GS, there are now apps available to enable video recording capabilities on the older phones. One of those apps, Drahtwerk's iCamcorder [US$0.99, iTunes Link], has a ton of features that might make 3GS owners jealous. Some of those features include:

• Quad-cam, mirror, pop-art, old movie,color-flip and four more special effects
• Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube sharing of recorded videos
• Adjustable recording frame rate
• Bonjour sharing for downloading videos from your iPhone

Drahtwerk wanted to give away some promo codes for this app, and now 20 lucky TUAW readers are going to walk away with a free copy of iCamcorder. Here's how to enter:

• Open to legal US residents of the 50 United States and the District of Columbia who are 18 and older.
• To enter, leave a comment telling us what you'd like to record with iCamcorder.
• The comment must be left before Tuesday, February 9, 2010, 11:59PM Eastern Standard Time.
• You may enter only once.
• Twenty winners will be selected in a random drawing.
• Prize: One promo code for a copy of iCamcorder (Value: US$0.99)
• Click Here for complete Official Rules.

Good luck, TUAW-ites!

Here at TUAW, we've talked about some potential markets for the iPad; for example, the health care industry. Over at Flying Magazine's website, blogger Robert Goyer is lusting after the iPad as a tool in the cockpit.

The iPhone has become a pilot's toolkit since the App Store opened, with apps like Flight Plan - Pilot's Toolbox [iTunes Link] and CoPilot - Flight Planning [iTunes Link] making it into the cockpit for private and commercial pilots alike.

Goyer loves the idea that the iPad will have a much larger display than the iPhone and, most importantly for the quick pace of flying, that it's an instant-on device unlike many laptops. He thinks that the 3G models will be most useful for aviation since they'll provide online access to a plethora of aviation, regulatory, and weather-related data sources.

What Goyer is looking forward to the most about the iPad is that extra screen real estate. As he says in his post, he'll likely go with a netbook for situations when he's not in the cockpit. But while flying, the iPad's "brilliant display" and GPS capability should make it "supremely easy to use" for pilots needing map apps. We can't wait to see what flies into view.

[Thanks to @RyanACash for the Twitter tip]

Film fans everywhere will be sitting before their TVs on March 7th to catch the Academy Awards. Now, as with so many other things, there's an app for that.

Vanity Fair Magazine has produced the free Oscars app called Vanity Fair Hollywood. Users can submit their predictions for winners, browse photo galleries, share comments and prediction results via Facebook and more. Of course, you can chat in real time during the show itself from within the app and watch trailers of the nominated films. I'm not an Oscars fan, but I often fire up Twitter when watching my beloved Red Sox because the accompanying chat makes the experience more fun.

For more iPhone fun on Oscar night, check out these apps:

• The Envelope (Free) Try and predict the winners and share results with your friends.
• Awards: Oscar Edition ($0.99) Search for winners and nominees in all categories quickly, search award histories and get up-to-date information and results.
• The Adademy Awards Bible ($2.99) lists all 850 Academy Award winners, organized by name, title, category, etc. It's quite the mobile tome for Oscar bufffs.
• Oscar Pool 2010 ($0.99) Invite your friends to bet on who will win. Create a profile, add photos and more.

[Via TechCrunch]

TUAW reader Gabby tipped us off this morning that Apple has expanded its new browser-based iTunes previews to include App Store offerings. Sure enough, I pasted a standard App Store URL for Apple's Remote application into Safari and was treated to the preview shown just above.

This new preview option is just one of many App Store URL tricks you may want to take advantage of. You can find some of the most useful tricks right after the break on this post. Got another URL trick for App Store? Let us know in the comments.

NPR posted the other day about an app that promised to simulate a sitar, the stringed instrument used mainly in Indian music. So just for you, dear readers, we downloaded it [iTunes link] and gave it a shot. The verdict? If you can already play the sitar, you'll probably find it a reasonable approximation. Just like the guitar simulators on the iPhone, there are various strings on screen that you can "strum," and the notes are labeled under the virtual strings. As for actually learning the sitar, however, you're probably out of luck. There's one instructional page, and links to eHow videos, but there's nothing solid in terms of actually learning the device.

And unfortunately, the app just feels pretty cheap -- there's a large part of the screen taken up with a one-hit sitar sound, and quite a few times, we'd try striking different strings and get the same notes, as if the app had bugged out and gotten stuck on one file. Of course, I can't play the sitar (though I'm pretty respectable on the guitar), so maybe I was just doing it wrong. But even a little experimentation with the app didn't bring up an easy way to do it right.

Still, NPR has a point -- you can't always carry your sitar around with you. If you want to pay 99 cents to have a Pocket Sitar around, this will app will probably strum your chikari.

If you're one of the people who has, according to Adobe's John Nack, run the total number of downloads of the Photoshop.com Mobile [free, iTunes Link] app to 6.5 million, then we have information you need to know. Of course, you may have already checked the App Store app to find the update to version 1.1.021 of Photoshop Mobile for iPhone, but if you haven't then you should mosey on over to the App Store Updates and it should magically appear for you.

The new version of the Photoshop.com Mobile app adds a new sharpen tool, more photo borders, and (for U.S. users only) playback of videos hosted on Photoshop.com.

You'll need to be running iPhone 3.0 or later on your device to enjoy using Photoshop.com Mobile.

As most of you know already, Apple has lifted the restrictions against making VoIP calls over a 3G connection, and a handful of apps have already "flipped a switch" behind the scenes to enable such calls. However, the most high-profile VoIP app on the App Store, Skype, has yet to follow suit.

Skype has posted an update on their blog regarding their progress on enabling VoIP over 3G. According to the company, 3G calling is coming "soon" along with a few other updates that will ensure that both the app itself and the calls it makes remain high-quality. The next Skype update will include a call quality indicator for the 3G network similar to the one they already have for Wi-Fi connections -- depending on the strength of your network connection, the indicator will show green, yellow, or red, giving you a rough idea of what quality to expect out of calls on your current network. Skype is also working on implementing a "wideband audio" codec for calls, which the company says will allow for "CD quality sound" on Skype-to-Skype calls. From the sounds of the video below, however, this feature will only be coming to the iPhone 3GS and iPod touch; it's probable that the iPhone 3G and original iPhone lack the processing power necessary to drive Skype's wideband audio codec.

Since the announcement of the lifting of VoIP over 3G restrictions, much speculation has surrounded the possible implementation of VoIP calls on the iPad. The iPad has a microphone, speaker, and Bluetooth, all of which, when paired with a very competitively priced pay-as-you-go and contract-free 3G data plan, make the iPad a very compelling alternative to the iPhone. Skype says it is indeed investigating a Skype for iPad app, but at this very early stage, no further details are available.

We'll keep you posted on the Skype app and let you know when it's updated as soon as we find out. In the meantime, you can watch this brief video from the guys at Skype, where they discuss their progress on the app.

Those who enjoy USB book sharing their ePub and eReader files in the current version of Stanza [iTunes link] will want to avoid the 2.1 version of the software, currently being distributed in the App Store. The update notes reveal that Apple apparently ordered Lexcycle to remove the USB sharing ability. Unfortunately, Lexcycle is forbidden from explaining why they were told to remove the feature.

To me -- and this is pure speculation -- this is Apple's equivalent of giving Amazon the finger. Amazon acquired Lexcycle back in 2009, and that this could be part of a series of moves by Apple to drive people toward the iPad and the upcoming iBooks software. I wouldn't be too surprised if Apple found a way to ban the wonderful Kindle app [iTunes link] from the App Store at some point in the future. Is Apple becoming the next Tammany Hall with Steve Jobs its "Boss" Tweed?

Peripheral manufacturer Logitech has released a free app that lets you turn your iPhone or iPod touch (or probably even your iPad, if you're Stephen Colbert) into a wireless mouse and keyboard. The free TouchMouse app [iTunes Link] is perfect for those situations where you've connected your Mac to a TV and want a way to control it from the comfy confines of your favorite couch.

There are actually two components to TouchMouse; the iPhone app and the Logitech TouchMouse Server software. The latter comes in Mac OS X and Windows (XP, Vista, and 7) versions, and must be installed on the Mac or PC in order to "host" the virtual mouse and keyboard created by TouchMouse.

The "mouse" has three buttons for your "clicking" pleasure, and uses the majority of your iPhone screen as a touchpad. With the touch of a button, you can bring up a keyboard to type on your Mac or PC.

There are other apps that can do the same thing if you're not a fan of Logitech. Air Mouse Pro [US$1.99, iTunes Link] is probably the most powerful and popular Wi-Fi mouse in the App Store, while Rowmote Pro [US$4.99, iTunes Link] has a large and vocal fan following. If you're looking for free (and who isn't?), Logitech's TouchMouse app can give you a taste of remote control at absolutely no cost.

It's been nearly a week now since Apple lifted the restrictions against using VoIP over 3G to place calls on the iPhone. Within hours of the withdrawal of restrictions, iCall [iTunes Link] and fring [iTunes Link] both updated their backend to allow users to place calls over a 3G connection. In neither case was it even necessary to download an updated version of the app from the App Store; both iCall and fring basically just "flipped a switch" behind the scenes that allowed VoIP over 3G. After almost a week, neither app has been pulled from the App Store, so it seems VoIP over 3G is here to stay.

What about Skype? Skype is apparently "awaiting clarification" from Apple. They want to make sure the updated terms of the iPhone OS 3.2 SDK also apply to the 3.12 SDK before they submit an update. This caution from Skype is somewhat puzzling considering at least two other apps have been merrily humming along with VoIP over 3G enabled for almost a week without any punitive measures taken against them; fring even allows users to place VoIP calls over 3G through a Skype account. We contacted Skype three days ago to get some clarification of our own, but they haven't got back to us.

Here's the thing, Skype guys: if the state raises the speed limit on your local highway to 70 mph, changes all the signs, and stops pulling people over when they drive faster than 60, it's a pretty safe bet that you can drive 70 mph now. How much more clarification do you need? In the immortal words of Alan Shepard, "Why don't you fix your little problem and light this candle?"

There's a growing battle lately on the App Store over "check-in" apps -- Foursquare, Gowalla, and MyTown have all seen big gains in users lately (and a few other contenders have been roaming the periphery), and it looks like we're starting to see some innovation in the mix. Gowalla recently updated their free app [iTunes link], and introduced a new feature called Shared Trips. These are more or less tours (or a line of check-ins at different places around a given city), but they can feature all kinds of things: a set of bars, interesting buildings to see, the old bookstore/coffeeshop run, or any other ideas Gowalla users have. Trips can be shared and rated, and you'll be able to browse through the most popular trips and even earn badges in the app for creating or going on a popular trip.

The new version also adds bookmarks, which will let you remember your favorite check-in spot -- while you can't add them from the mobile app yet, you can browse them from there, and they're hoping to get the functionality in soon.

Obviously, this might not appeal to everybody -- there are lots of iPhone users out there (including me) who aren't so keen yet on sharing their location with everyone they know every time they leave the house. But it is interesting to note that this is a burgeoning mini-industry, brought on almost completely by the ubiquity of the iPhone and its up-and-coming competitors. Any time you have more than a few apps vying for a growing audience, you're going to end up with some interesting innovation. It'll be fun to see what kinds of ideas Gowalla and its competitors can come up with.

I first heard of Typewar from a Twitter pal who challenged me to beat his score on the web-based game. I was happy to see that my 26 years of Mac work had given me a fine eye for different fonts, as I was able to easily slam my buddy to the mat. If you've never played Typewar, it's deceptively simple -- you're shown a letter and asked to choose which typeface (i.e., "Optima" or "Gill Sans") is being displayed. Your score is calculated depending on the number of correct choices you make, and you're then compared to other people who are playing the game. Every once in a while, you get pushed to a new level and a new typeface is added to the game.

Now Typewar is available for the iPhone and iPod touch, so I decided to give the game a try in a portable format. It made the move well, and it's still a fun and challenging game. The app [US$1.99, iTunes Link] is from game inventor Eldarion and developers at Massively Overrated, and does an excellent job of moving the game to the iPhone.

You log into the game using your Twitter account or create an account to join in on the fun. The account allows you to keep track of your statistics, both so you can gain bragging rights against the rest of the Typewar world and know just how awesome your typeface identification skills really are. The game moves along quickly, with short delays at each level change as Typewar downloads a new typeface to your iPhone.

If you're a designer or just a Mac or iPhone user who likes typography, you'll love Typewar. Take a look at the gallery below for more pictures of the game in action.