Hasta La Gadget!

Temple Run 2 debuted on iOS earlier today, which many of us at the Ubergizmo offices have been completely hooked for the majority of our day. It looks though we’re not the only ones who have noticed Imangi Studios’ sequel to its extremely popular game as it looks like it’s experiencing the same success Temple Run did now that it’s been launched to the top of the “Free” section on the iTunes App Store.

Temple Run 2 hasn’t even been available for 12 hours, which means we should expect some news from Imangi Studios in the very near future on its success, which we assume may have been downloaded at least 500,000 times today, although we wouldn’t be surprised if we heard it was downloaded over one million in its first 24 hours of being available.

Don’t worry, Android Temple Run players. It looks like your day to receive your version is coming sooner than you think as we know it took way too long to get the original Temple Run on your platform after it was available on iOS. What? You’re a Windows Phone user who wants Temple Run 2? Uh… good luck?

By Ubergizmo. Related articles: Angry Birds Rio Free On iTunes, Sega Launches Kingdom Conquest II ,

If you’re not familiar with the legal battle between Apple and Amazon, the two companies have been fighting over the term “app store” for quite some time now, and they have a trial date set for August 19 later this year. However, the judge presiding over the case has ordered the two companies to talk it out first before heading into the court room.

According to Bloomberg, representatives and lawyers from both companies will be required to meet on March 21 in order to attempt to reach a settlement. And while both sides could end up just going ’round and ’round, the judge has strictly enforced that “no participant in the settlement conference will be permitted to leave the settlement conference before it is concluded.”

Of course, it’s very likely that a settlement won’t be reached. Apple and Amazon have been battling over use of the “app store” term for almost two years now. Apple says that Amazon has inappropriately used its App Store name to promote the Amazon Appstore, and the Cupertino-based company says it’s their trademarked name, while Amazon argues that it’s a generic term.

Recently, however, the court dismissed Apple’s claim that Amazon’s use of the term was false advertising, but the larger infringement case is still set to occur later this year. So while Apple and Amazon will be forced to meet in a conference room to discuss their differences, we’re not sure how it will turn out exactly — stay tuned until late March when the two companies face one another.

[via Bloomberg]

Apple and Amazon ordered to meet over App Store court case is written by Craig Lloyd & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

In a move to put the kibosh on scammers, Apple will be locking down app screenshots in iTunes Connect once an app has been approved. This will make it difficult for scammers to swap out their own screenshots with those of different, more popular apps, tricking buyers into purchasing their own product. The change went into effect today.

There are legitimate reasons to change an app’s screenshot, of course, such as to reflect updates. Developers will be able to change their screenshots, but only after submitting a binary or update. This will help protect customers while making it easier for Apple to nuke fraudulent apps before someone falls victim.

The update Apple its Developer website reads thusly: “Beginning January 9, app screenshots will be locked in iTunes Connect once your app has been approved. New screenshots may be uploaded when you submit a binary for an update to an existing app or a new app.”

Some developers are likely to be annoyed by this hoop they have to jump through to make a legitimate change to their app screenshots. Submissions for screenshot changes will be subjected to approval because of the additional red tape. Still, if it helps limit the number of fake apps, both developers and customers will benefit from the change in the long run.

[via Mac Observer]

Apple puts an end to app screenshot swaps to fight scammers is written by Brittany Hillen & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Apple has seen over 40 billion downloads from the App Store, with over 500m active accounts the Cupertino company claims, and nearly half of that 40bn figure being grabbed for iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch in 2012. The huge milestone culminated in a record-breaking December, Apple says, where over two billion downloads took place.

In fact, there are now over 775,000 titles available, with more than 300,000 of those being iPad-native. The App Store is available in 155 countries, and Apple has paid out over seven billion dollars to developers during its operation. The 40bn download figure excludes re-downloads of Apps, as well as updates.

“It has been an incredible year for the iOS developer community,” Eddy Cue, senior vice president of Internet Software and Services at Apple said of the news today. “Developers have made over seven billion dollars on the App Store, and we continue to invest in providing them with the best ecosystem so they can create the most innovative apps in the world.”

Application availability has quickly become a key metric for smartphone and tablet platform performance, with any shortfall in title range often leaving an OS looking particularly unappealing in the marketplace. Microsoft, for instance, struggled to gain traction with Windows Phone developers, though has improved in more recent months, while Android – although increasingly popular – still suffers from a lack of tablet-specific titles.

Apple App Store blasts through 40 billion downloads is written by Chris Davies & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

In a mix of user interface usage, number crunching, and good ol’ analytics, the group known as ABI Research has revealed that Apple’s App Store has their top score in the mobile application storefronts category here at the start of 2013. The report they’ve released ranks stores based on both implementation and innovation with Apple winning the overall combined score over both the Google Play app store and Microsoft’s Windows Store, Google’s working for Android and Microsoft’s working for Windows Phone devices.

Combined scores for both implementation and innovation in this analysis showed Apple to be winning over the competition with 80.8 out of 100. Google’s score ended up being 72.2 and Microsoft ended up with a lovely 63.9, both of these also out of a max score of 100. Interestingly enough, it wasn’t Apple who won out when the scores were stacked up for innovation alone, with Microsoft scoring in at 77 out of 100 and Google coming in with 76, just the tiniest of points below the Windows Phone platform.

The innovation category for ABI Research works with what they say are the following five criteria: discovery, quality control, ease of use, “Breadth of Ecosystem”, and “Hosting and Deployment.” When they say Breadth of Ecosystem, they mean the availability of different kinds of media like apps, music, videos, and different kinds of apps, made for multiple screen sizes and even separate sections for phones and tablets. Hosting and Deployment for this study includes file-size limits as well as different methods for downloading media.

ABI researcher Aapo Markkanen made it clear this week that the study shows Microsoft doing well for their devices, but that it could all be for nothing if the Windows Phone platform doesn’t take off in a rather big way, rather soon: “Microsoft does seem to invest strongly in both personalized recommendation and editorial curation of apps. … [this approach] should favor developers with good products and little extra money to spare, over the ones that have mediocre products but big marketing budgets, [but this] won’t really matter if the devices powered by Windows Phone end up selling badly.”

[via ComputerWorld]

ABI ranks Apple App Store tops at start of 2013 is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.