These iPhone apps made their developers rich

While Robert Nay recently made headlines for developing a chart-topping iPhone app, the 14-year-old from Spanish Fork, Utah will need to create a paid or advertising-supported follow-up to hisBubble Ball puzzle game in order to make any money.

Since Apple opened the iTunes App Store in July 2008, independent developers have created tens of thousands of titles with the hopes of striking it rich through paid downloads (where they keep up to 70 percent of the sales) and more recently via advertising or premium upgrades.

With increased competition from major game developers and globally recognized brands, however, most independents lose money on their smartphone applications that are now also created for Google’s Android mobile operating system.

Yet it is still possible to get rich right away developing iPhone apps. Just look at how some of the top app makers to come out of nowhere did it.

New and noteworthy app all-stars

Zeptolab/Cut the Rope

Ten days after this addictive puzzle-solving game debuted for 99 cents on the iTunes App Store last October, Cut the Rope was downloaded more than one million times. Ten days later, another million copies were sold. By year-end, this Moscow-based development company founded by two 28-year-old brothers had an absolute blockbuster with the sale of more than five million apps.

Co-founder Semyon Voinov, who previously worked as an artist with Helskini-based mobile development firm Digital Chocolate before joining forces with his brother full-time last spring, recently told us that independent developers can still thrive making iPhone apps because “there is no need to have a big team or business connections.”

That didn’t stop major game publishers from taking notice. Zeptolab’s first app, the 99-cent slingshot game Parachute Ninja, sold a respectable 300,000 copies with New York City publisher Freeverse. Last June, Zeptolab scored a publishing contract with Chillingo - the UK-based behemoth behind Angry Birds and other iconic titles. Chillingo, which markets games for an undisclosed cut of the action, was impressed with Zeptolab’s production values and chart-topping potential.

“We saw the great talent ZeptoLab had and the innovative gameplay design they had created,” said Chillingo co-founder Chris Byatte. “We realized that with even more polish, the game would have massive consumer appeal and we’re proud to see all the success we’ve helped them achieve.”

Pocket Gems/Tap Farm

Venture capitalists are paying more attention to iPhone app developers, including this San Francisco-based startup that was founded in September 2009. Stanford University MBA student Daniel Terry, who briefly worked in the product department of large mobile app developer Tapjoy, saw the success of freemium games on Facebook.

Freemium games like Zynga’s FarmVille cost nothing to download but hit players up for premium gameplay along the way. Before Zynga launched the official FarmVille app for the iPhone, Pocket Gems earlier last year scored a nice success with the similar game Tap Farm. With five titles in the App Store, Pocket Gems last month raised $5 million from Sequoia Capital, a backer of Google, Yahoo! and other groundbreaking companies.

First-mover successes

Steve Demeter/Trism

The poster child for overnight success developing iPhone apps, Steve Demeter boasted of making more than $250,000 in profit only two months after his color-matching game Trism debuted in the App Store in the summer of 2008.

“The key is to make an application that instantly proves its value,” Demeter explained when we interviewed him a year later.

The San Francisco-based Demeter, who was 30-years-old when Trism started selling for $4.99 a download, predicted early on that that the game would generate more than $2 million in profit. It’s estimated that Trism cleared $1 million, but increased competition in the App Store apparently killed its trajectory and there has been no major follow-up since. While he acknowledges that creating one of the first blockbuster hits for the iPhone changed his life, Demeter learned to keep his financials closer to the vest.

“Talking about numbers made me realize why people don’t talk about numbers,” he said. “You get people asking for loans, and (in meetings) that can become a stumbling block.”

Demeter said he expects to come out with Trism 2 in the coming months.

Ethan Nicholas/iShoot

This former Sun Microsystems engineer literally quit his day job shortly after reportedly making more than $600,000 in only one month (including $37,000 in a single day) in late 2008. Legend has it that Nicholas, based in Wake Forest, North Carolina, programmed much of iShoot with his 1-year-old son on his lap during his off hours.

After a sluggish beginning trying to sell the shooter game out of the gate at $4.99 per download, Nicholas struck gold while giving away a “lite” version of the game for free. Thereafter, iShoot shot to number one on the free charts. Of the nearly 2.5 million consumers who downloaded the game in those opening weeks, more than 300,000 ended up shelling out a discounted three bucks for the complete game.

iShoot continued to gross hundreds of thousands of dollars thereafter. Naughty Bits, the iPhone app development company Nicholas formed, also enjoys modest success with the 99-cent Rhumb Line board game app.

GreatApps/iSteam

Not every million dollar iPhone app is a game. To date, this 99-cent novelty app - which makes your iPhone look like a steamy mirror after a hot shower - has been downloaded more than three million times.

The London-based, twenty-something developers behind GreatApps - who modestly claim to be just “three Greek guys playing with a Mac” - came together in November 2008. The company is now marketing technology that detects how firmly users tap touchscreen devices so that different responses can be programmed based on the amount of force applied.

Other GreatApps iPhone apps include the free titles Zen Piano,GoSanta!, and CometBuster that use the company’s TapForce technology.

Imangi Studios/Harbor Master HD

The husband and wife team behind Washington D.C.-based Imangi Studios understood how to expand their business by the time the iPad was released last April. In 2008, Keith Shepherd stopped developing software for the healthcare industry to start his own company in his Dupont Circle apartment.

While Shepherd paid some of his bills developing puzzle games like the $1.99 Little Red Sled, the company scored its first major hit with the 2009 Flight Control-like line-drawing game Harbor Master. Rather than selling the app for $1.99 - its iPhone price - Imangi offered the free Harbor Master HD to iPad owners on day one and it became a top downloaded iPad app right away. During Apple’s 2010 Worldwide Developer’s conference last June, Shepherd’s wife and business partner Natalia Luckynova estimated that Harbor Master was downloaded to approximately 10 percent of all iPads at that time.

Although it’s difficult to track how much money Imangi is making from Harbor Master HD, the company generates income from advertising and premium “In-App” purchases that range between 99 cents and $4.99.

Greg Grunberg/Yowza

When NBC cancelled its drama Heroes last year, actor Greg Grunberg had a flourishing app company to keep him busy. In 2009, Grunberg created Yowza, a free app that distributes mobile coupons on behalf of more than 300 retailers including Crate & Barrel and Gap. The company claims it has more than five million users that can redeem deals at 15,000 nationwide locations. Yowza, which Grunberg told the LA Times is profitable and currently raising money, charges participating merchants $59 per month, per store.

These household names were unknown three years ago

Wealth and fame from iPhone applications is not restricted to opportunistic individuals. A few small development companies that operated in relative obscurity before the App Store debuted are now among the most notable media and technology companies on the globe.

Rovio Mobile: Founded eight years ago, this Finnish developer enjoyed modest success until the 2009 release of Angry Birds. This game-changing title, which has generated more than 50 million downloads across multiple platforms includingAndroid and iPad, is poised to become a multimedia crossover hit.

Tapulous: Before getting acquired by Disney last year, this company developed some of the top grossing iPhone apps of all time including Tap Tap Revenge 3. The Palo Alto-based company was founded in February 2008 by serial entrepreneur Bart Decrem with funding from several Silicon Valley investors.

Lima Sky: This New York-based developer created Doodle Jump, which at 99 cents is the top selling iPhone app of all time. Lima Sky president Igor Pusenjak told the Wall Street Journal that Doodle Jump had more than 200,000 downloads on Christmas Day alone.

Klang Ultrasonic Speakers

It may no longer excite most people to know about gadgets like the ordinary PC speakers. Of course they are essential and that most PC’s come with them. But it seems that most of them follow a simple generic design. But what if there’s a PC speaker with a design and function that would capture your attention the moment you see it. That may seem farfetched, but that may be what the Klang Ultrasonic Speaker aims to achieve.

Just one look at the Klang Ultrasonic Speaker and you will know that it is something out of the ordinary. It certainly looks different from any conventional PC speaker out there. Not only that, it also may have a function that is quite unique.

Designed by Adam Moller, the Klang Ultrasonic Speakers aim to have a function that includes being able to direct sound output into any location that the user may want to. With ultrasonic speakers, sound is created through low level ultrasound waves that only affects the air molecules in its path. This allows users to only receive sound to wherever the speaker is pointed and not anywhere else. Quite a unique gadget but unfortunately still at its concept stages. But the technology to make the Klang Ultrasonic Speaker is already there and it may only take a matter of time. You can check out Yanko Design to know further about this unique speaker.

Image Source: Yanko Design

Genius Kids Designer Graphic Tablet

Although the tablet market is flooded with new versions almost each month, most of them are designed for use by adults. It is rare to find a tablet designed for kids. Considering that even kids today are fond of having such devices designed for their use. Genius has come up with the Genius Kids Designer Tablet geared towards this often neglected market segment.

Genius has found for itself a niche market segment where it may thrive in a crowded tablet market. Its new graphic tablet is designed for use for kids from 3 to 8 years old. The Genius Kids Designer features a 5″ x 8″ display screen with a pressure sensitive digital pen to use for screen interaction. The Genius Kids Designer graphic tablet can be used by kids to draw, write,paint and even play educational games. This kid-friendly graphic tablet will soon be available in the market. Its price has not yet been announced.

Image Source: Geniu

Pomegranate Phone NS08

The Pomegranate is a fictional mobile phone created on behalf of the Government of Nova Scotia. The website has comic features such as a video projector, live voice translator, harmonica, coffee maker, and shaving razor, among many other standard features that current leading mobile phones have, but upon clicking "I've seen enough" or "Release date", an array of information about Nova Scotia and its culture is displayed. The campaign, which included online advertising on sites in New England, is an attempt to attract interest in Nova Scotia and establish it as a desirable place to live and do business.

The Pomegranate phone is the latest campaign from Communications Nova Scotia's Come to Life initiative, the place-branding program of the Government of Nova Scotia. Communications Nova Scotia has been criticized by some for spending $300,000 on the ad campaign, though the website received more than 3 million visits from 195 countries/territories since its launch on September 30, 2008, and they are considering it to be very successful.

PS3 Firmware 3.56 Jailbreak Now Available

Sony released an official PS3 firmware update v3.56 yesterday, which brought fixes to the previous jailbreak holes.

The new PS3 update 3.56 was jailbroken within hours of its release i.e yes,jailbreak PS3 firmware 3.56 is still possible on the new official update.

Sony will probably release another new update, PS3 firmware 3.57, in the coming few days to patch this new jailbreak hole as well.

It’s not yet known if you can still play online with the new PS3 firmware 3.56 jailbreak or not. Atleast, we would not recommend you to give it a try and check!

Dual-Boot Windows Phone 7 and Android on HTC HD2

The much-loved HTC HD2 can be hacked in a way that you can install either Android or Windows Phone 7 on it, but how about dual-booting? Continue Reading to know the details about this update: The sharp minds at XDA-Developers have found a way to install both operating systems onto one SD card and effectively giving users the choice of which OS to run at start-up. Now, before rushing to hack your lovely HD2, be warned that this isn’t a simple process and things can go wrong if don’t go according to plan. However, if they do go as planned, then you’ll become a cool fellow among your friends.

Full How To instructions are given in the XDA thread here and you can see the video tutorial on how to dual-boot Android and Windows Phone 7 on HTC HD2. See the video embedded below:

Most expensive headphones!

If you’re like me, you think the point of headphones is to be able to listen to music on the go. Clearly, though, that isn’t the case for some audiophiles. The world’s most expensive headphones are hardly portable.

Sennheiser, a leading manufacturer of studio and stage microphones, created a limited number of what have been called the best headphones in the world. That’s right, only 300 of these headphones exist—possibly because they’re handmade. The set includes a high-end vacuum tube amplifier with an all-valve signal path and equally high-end electrostatic headphones with gold connectors.

The most expensive headphones in the world originally retailed for around $15,000 and can still be found for less than $30,000. Of course, if you plan on hooking them up to your iPod, you’ll need to leave the amp at home.

Another pair of expensive headphones, the ULTRASONE Edition 9 Limited Edition S-Logic Natural Surround Sound Headphones, come with some cool features. The S-Logic natural surround sound takes the sound out of the headphones and into the room around you for a three-dimensional sound similar to a live concert. Less stress is put on your eardrums because pressure is decreases by up to 40% (3-4dB), allegedly reducing the risk of hearing damage.

Ultrasone’s expensive headphones also utilize ULE technology with an MU metal shield that reduces radiation by up to 98%. . The ULTRASONE Edition 9 Limited Edition S-Logic Natural Surround Sound Headphones are certainly a luxury to be had by the most discriminating audiophile. At a retail price of $1499.00, they’d better sound good.

This is not your typical review of the 2011 Chevrolet Volt

Gene Weingarten is not an automotive journalist. He is, however, a two-time Pulitzer Prize-winning writer forThe Washington Post. And yet, despite limited automotive knowledge by his own admission, he's written an excellent review of the 2011 Chevrolet Volt.

Weingarten admits he was predisposed to hate the Volt (and American cars in general), but his time behind the wheel didn't jibe with those expectations. And it wasn't even because the car apparently made him more attractive to members of the opposite sex (though we doubt that hurt its chances any).

Trust us on this: Go and read all five pages of Weingarten's review of the Chevy Volt, then come back and tell us what you think

Number one Disc Jockey in the world.

Armin van Buuren (born in Leiden, Netherlands on 25 December 1976) is a Dutch trance producer and DJ has been given the title of The Best Disc Jockey (DJ) in the world.

Discography

• 76 (2003)
• Shivers (2005)
• Imagine (2008)
• Mirage (2010)

Garmin navigation system on iPhone launched!

Garmin Mobile XT has been launched on iPhone. Earlier it was only available for Symbian Operation Systems.

BlackBerry Curve Touch picture and specs leaked

Phone companies just can't keep their documents from falling into internet-friendly hands, and RIM has been particularly clumsy this year.

After a host of handset leaks earlier in the month, the company's product roadmap has now made its way to BlackBerry blog Crackberry.

Some of the products are old news – the Playbook, for example – and some are merely the CDMA versions of the leaks we've already seen (the Sedona is the Curve Apollo, the Montana is the Dakota and the Storm 3 is the Monaco).

Pacific Coast Highway

But the handset code-named Malibu is a mysterious new one, clarified in a further slide as the Curve Touch, an "accessible all-touch BlackBerry".

The touchscreen is a 3.25-inch job, with 480x360 HVGA resolution and an 800MHz Qualcomm processor.

Like most new and current BlackBerrys, the camera offers a 5-megapixel sensor with HD video recording.

Sad times for physical QWERTY fans

Although there's no physical QWERTY, the familiar optical trackpad and navigation keys from the likes of the Bold 9780 are present and correct.

Interestingly, the handset will also feature NFC connectivity, although by the time it's released at the end of the year NFC may be fairly old hat.

The Malibu's OS will be "BlackBerry 6 Evolution" – which means it will focus on the digital compass and augmented reality, NFC, HD video and HTML 5.

This information all comes from RIM's CDMA roadmap, which suggests that the handsets are intended for the USA and Canada; still, there's a good chance we'll see a GSM version of the Malibu meant for the European market. We will keep you posted.

Sony unveils 'Next Generation Playstation Portable" the new PSP

The new Next Generation Portable, from Sony. Known by many as the PlayStation Portable 2, the new device was announced at a live event in Tokyo on Thursday.

(Credit: Sony Computer Entertainment)

At a live event in Tokyo, Sony on Thursday unveiled what many had come to call the PlayStation Portable 2, its long-awaited, all-new handheld video game console. Known officially as the "Next Generation Portable," the device will be available this holiday season. Sony has not yet said what the new PSP will cost.
According to CNET sister site Gamespot.com, the new device will come in a brick form factor and will feature a 5-inch OLED display with four times the resolution of current-generation PSPs. It has touch pads on both the front and the rear and dual micro analog joysticks. It also has both front- and rear-facing cameras and will use a Flash-based memory card. It will also offer 3G, Bluetooth, and Wi-Fi connectivity, according to GameSpot. Onstage in Tokyo, Sony's Shuhei Yoshida said the new device boasts PlayStation 3-quality graphics.


Sony said that the device has an ARM Cortex A9 (core) CPU, and a SGX543MP4+ GPU. It also has a Sixaxis motion-sensing system.
Games that will be offered for the Next Generation Portable (NGP) include Hot Shots Golf Next, Gravity Daze, Killzone, WipeOut, Resistance, LittleBigPlanet, Uncharted, Little Deviants, Reality Fighters, and Billiards, GameSpot reported.
Before unveiling the new PSP, Sony Computer Entertainment CEO Kaz Hirai also unveiled a new platform called PlayStation Suite that will ensure that first-generation PlayStation games will run on a wide variety of Android-enabled handsets and tablets. That could mean that a huge library of games will be available for the first time to Android users. Hirai also said that the Next Generation Portable is backward compatible, and will run downloadable PSP titles. And Toshihiro Nagoshi from Sega later said that it would be possible to port PlayStation 3 games to the NGP, according to Gamespot.

A view of the front of the NGP, showing its dual sticks, and its front-facing camera.

(Credit: Sony Computer Entertainment)

Nintendo's DS has dominated
Although Sony's PSP line, which first launched in 2004, has sold an impressive 65.7 million units worldwide, according to independent analyst outfit VGChartz.com, it has been overshadowed for years by the much more successful Nintendo DS line of handhelds. All told, according to VGChartz, Nintendo has sold 145.3 million of its portable devices--the DS, the DSi, and the DS Lite.

The slim PSP, which was released in 2007.

(Credit: CNET)

Sony has also tried to reinvigorate the PSP before, first with a slimmer version of the original device it put out in 2007, and then with a significant redesign that never really caught on known as the PSP Go. But neither of those devices was able to help Sony close the handheld sales gap with Nintendo.
And now, of course, the new Next Generation Portable will be going head-to-head with the very-well-received new Nintendo 3DS. That well-reviewed device, which offers users 3D capabilities without special glasses, will go on sale March 27, and cost $249. It will launch with six first-party titles, including Legend of Zelda and Nintendogs + Cats, and ten third-party games, including Electronic Arts' The Sims and Madden Football; Super Street Fighter IV 3D from Capcom; Dead or Alive: Dimensions from Tecmo, and others.
Still, the Next Generation Portable has a lot of people excited because of its rich collection of features.

The PSP Go, which Sony launched in 2009.

(Credit: Sony)

But while Sony got plenty of attention for the new NGP, it did not unveil at the Tokyo event a PlayStation phone, as many had expected. It appears, according to published reports, that such a phone, which could be based on Google's Android platform, and be known as the Xperia, will not be revealed in public until next month's Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain.
Additional coverage:
The Sony NGP/PSP2: what we still don't know
PSP2 gameplay video: Uncharted
Sony bringing PlayStation games to Android

 

Apple’s App Store passes 10 billion app downloads

Apple’s iTunes App Store has passed the 10 billion downloads milestone. More than 10 billion apps and games for iPhone, iPod and iPad have been downloaded from iTunes App Store since its release in July 2008. iTunes App Store is the world’s biggest mobile App Store with more than 300,000 apps available. On January 18, 2011, the App Store had over 9.9 billion downloads, and now today on Saturday, January 22, 2011, the Apple App Store sold its 10 billionth app. Its a great achievement in less than 2 years.

The vast choice of apps and games is one of the solid reasons behind the success of Apple and iOS devices.

Apple to launch white iPhone 4 tomorrow?

Apple online stores are down globally and 9to5mac is claiming that according to their sources Apple is going to launch the white iPhone 4 tomorrow. Their sources also told that both 16GB (part number MC604X/A) and 32GB (part number MC606X/A) will be available tomorrow.

So if AT&T white iPhone 4 is released tomorrow? Are you going to buy it? Or will you wait for the Verizon iPhone 4? We will update you as we hear the Official words. Stay tuned.

Update 1: Apple.com gets new glossy redesigned nav bars, but the online stores are still down. Keep your hopes up!

Update 2: Apple Store is back but there isn’t anything new.