Hasta La Gadget!

Amazon just released a new update to its Kindle app for iOS, and it basically just told Apple to go f*** itself in the process. The Apple App Store bible absolutely forbids in-app purchases unless the company is willing to give Apple a 30 percent cut, but Amazon has finally found a way around this little speed bump: likely-soon-to-be-banned free samples.

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With the release of the final set of episodes in the controversial multi-season television series Breaking Bad comes an Apple iBooks-exclusive piece of media: Alchemy. This title is appearing this week with content exclusive to the book stemming from each of the show’s seasons, culminating in a full history of the Breaking Bad epic. Breaking Bad: Alchemy will also – of course – be updated after the final episode airs: August 11th.

This title is one of a rather complete set of wares set up by Sony Pictures Television in a Breaking Bad iTunes collection where they’ve also pushed the entirety of the show, music from the show, podcasts from insiders with the show, and apps – The Cost of Doing Business, that is. That same title, in a sentence encapsulating the dark undertone of the show, also sits atop a timeline of deaths in the iBook.

Breaking Bad: Alchemy – Table of Contents
• Chapter 1: Catalyst – A full interactive timeline of the entire series, highlighting pivotal moments, characters and iconic props from the series
• Chapter 2: Breaking Down Breaking Bad – Explores the influences of Breaking Bad and features “The Cost of Doing Business” timeline

• Chapter 3: Tweak of Chemistry – Explore the chemical compounds, devices and forces used throughout the series.
• Chapter 4: Visualize This, B*****es – Dedicated to the visual style and art of Breaking Bad both within and inspired by the series

SIDENOTE: Don’t forget to check SlashGear’s Bryan Cranston interview from earlier this year to have a listen on how the show’s special effects play a part in the production of the show.

• Chapter 5: Crystal Clear – Dynamically experience the unique camera angles and color techniques cinematographers used throughout the series to achieve the visual style of Breaking Bad
• Chapter 6: Amplitude – Explore the music of Breaking Bad
• Chapter 7: Composition Cartel – Exclusive interviews with Vince Gilligan and executive producers, insider cues behind the special effects and production design
• Chapter 8: Payoffs – Highlights the critical-acclaim of the series and provides fans continued opportunities to engage with the series

The Cost of Doing Business delivers exactly what you’d expect a fully interactive “death timeline” to deliver. Breaking Bad is certainly no stranger to the evil bits in buying and selling illicit cargo, and here in this piece of the app you’ve got interviews, show footage, and character evolution data to do full justice to each character that’s met their untimely end over the span of the show.

Also included here are “reflections” from show creator Vince Gilligan. This includes video chats, looks at 3D models, blueprints, special effects, and even camera angles on key shots.

“Breaking Bad: Alchemy is a comprehensive anthology that will allow viewers to experience and interact with the show in unprecedented ways. In the creation of the Breaking Bad book, we wanted to deliver to fans a unique and dynamic experience and unparalleled access into the production of the series that they will enjoy long beyond the final season.” – Chris Van Amburg, Senior Vice President, Marketing for Sony Pictures Television

This iBook exists as a unique offering at this time in history due to its promise of added content once its subject matter – the TV show – is done being delivered. This isn’t the first time we’ve seen an app delivered before its full payload was sent out to the public, but given the relative popularity of similar “Second Screen” deliverables over the past year, we won’t be surprised to see more iBooks – and similar media – like this in the future.

At the moment the public will be able to pick the Breaking Bad: Alchemy iBook up for $7.99 USD as part of a limited-time pricing structure. Expect that amount of cash to go up once the world gets stunned into silence over the final chapter of the television show, hitting AMC on the 11th of next month.

Spoilers get dealt with!

Breaking Bad: Alchemy hits iBooks as exclusive with series finale promise is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2013, SlashGear. All right reserved.

It may be hard to believe, but at one point, there was no app store to accompany the iPhone. In fact, a whole year went by when original iPhone owners didn’t have an app store to download the latest apps for their device, but just a day before the iPhone 3G’s launch, the iTunes App Store was officially born.

Here we are five years later, downloading apps like nobody’s business. It didn’t take long for iPhone and iPod touch owners to reach an insane amount of downloads. In just nine months, the iTunes App Store garnered 1 billion app downloads. The number of downloads grew exponentially, thanks to the quick widespread adoption of Apple’s smartphone.

Besides launching alongside the new iPhone 3G, the iTunes App Store also debuted right beside the launch of iPhone OS 2.0 and iTunes 7.7. At the time, there were only 500 apps available to download for the iPhone, but that number quickly shot up to over 7,500 in just a few of months, and the number of app downloads skyrocketed to 10 million in just the first month.

Today, the iTunes App Store has well over a million apps and games to choose from, both free and paid variety. Most recently, Apple announced during WWDC 2013 last month that the App Store reached a total of 50 billion downloads, just five months after announcing the 40 billion download milestone, meaning that Apple is averaging two billion app downloads per month this year so far.

App developers are getting a lot out of the experience as well. Apple also announced at WWDC that they have paid out over $10 billion to developers so far since the App Store’s launch five years ago. The 30% fee that Apple charges to developers in the App Store has been a hard pill to swallow, but it hasn’t been a huge problem for developers, especially since they still receive 70% of the earnings, which is a good split in any circumstance.

However, while the iTunes App Store has made great strides in just five short years, we can’t forget about Android’s app store, Google Play. As of May 2013, Google Play has around 800,000 apps that have been downloaded 48 billion times. It’s just slightly behind the iTunes App Store, but it’ll only be a matter of time before Google Play begins to overtake the iTunes App Store. In fact, it’s predicted that Google Play will overtake iTunes in October if current trends continue.

What will the next five years hold for the iTunes App Store? Will we see 100 billion downloads by that time? Maybe we’ll see that number even sooner. One thing’s for sure, though: the number of apps available in the App Store and the number of downloads will most likely never stop growing — we’ll always see new ideas and reinvented apps arrive in the limelight for as long as the App Store exists.

iTunes App Store turns 5: A look back on 50 billion downloads is written by Craig Lloyd & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2013, SlashGear. All right reserved.

On July 10, 2008, Apple launched the App Store, an online hub where iPhone owners could browse and download apps from third party developers. More than anyone could have expected, this became a defining moment in the history of personal …

It’s been five years since Apple first launched the App Store, the company this week celebrating the origins of the iOS-tending software vending environment with a bit of a silent wave. You may have seen the “Apple Celebrates 5 Years of the App Store” that’ve been appearing in tubes to the doors of Apple-friendlies: it’s there that you’ll be getting the same information we’ll be running down here. It begins with the launch of the store back on July 10th of 2008, not long after the iPhone was first launched (in June of 2007) and the first 10 million downloads were reached not long after.

From there the App Store downloads grew right alongside the widespread adoption of the iPhone itself, developers deciding they’d get onboard with what would become a rather lucrative enterprise. Just before 2009 rolled around, 100 million downloads were reached – the 500 million downloads mark appeared just 16 days into the year. Things sped up quite quickly from there.

It was April 24th, 2009 when Apple announced its first 1 Billion downloads. It was 9 months after the initial launch of the store, and Apple was so proud of the milestone that they decided to send out a prize: $10,000 in iTunes cash to the 1 billionth downloader. This became a tradition with Apple and has been ever since.

Fast forward to 2013 and we’ve seen a 40 billion download mark as well as a 50 billion download mark the company was so happy about, they announced it at WWDC 2013. The first few minutes of any major keynote address has held such numbers and high water marks with Apple – and they’ve begun counting side-stores as well.

You’ll find Apple’s iTunes U to have reached 1 billion downloads for schools and learning institutions, that system having been in play for approximately a year at the time (February of 2013.)

Inside 2013, the App Store is watched by the ravenous fans of the ecosystem with extreme scrutiny. Items like Vanity URLs and Age Recommendations have become newsworthy in and of themselves.

The download marks were joined by such milestones as the first 1 million approved apps – this having been met on November 19th of 2012. While Apple has generally focused on the number of live apps – not just an app total – in the app store, the dichotomy of actual living apps and the downloads they’ve spurred brings some instant perspective on a single apps’ reach.

Next we’ll see the next big milestone in devices – it was back in 2010 when the first iPad-optimized apps were introduced. Stick around as Apple reaches the next 50 billion downloads as well – any guesses on how long it’ll take for them to hit it?

Apple celebrates App Stores’ 5th Anniversary is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2013, SlashGear. All right reserved.