Amid all the discussion of micropayments and other ways that the creators of news and other content can be paid for their work, the iTunes App store is shaping up to be a surprisingly viable way to sell all sorts of information and entertainment.
There is a lot more content of the sort you would have bought in the past but now you can get free on the Web: a directory of Congressional offices, standup comedy routines, gym workout videos, Zagat restaurant guides and a growing library of books. There is also a fair bit of free content, public-domain e-books like the complete works of Shakespeare and lots of advertising-supported media. (BusinessWeek has a report this week on the App store’s role in music.)
What’s most interesting is how iPhone users are willing to spend money in ways that Web users are not.
I’ve criticized Apple from time to time for not having a coherent approach to delivering free content with advertising. But in some ways, the development of a market for paid content is a bigger and less expected achievement.
Why has this happened? Apple has created an environment that makes buying digital goods easy and common. With an infrastructure that supports one-click purchases of songs and videos, it was easy to add applications in the same paradigm. Paying for software, especially games, is not new to Apple customers. So when you see the iPhone manual or the Frommer’s Paris guidebook, it feels natural to click. (And of course, your credit card is already on file with Apple.)
There are certainly other precedents. Many people who steal songs through Limewire nonetheless pay $1.99 to use the same tunes as ringtones. And for avid book readers, Amazon’s Kindle has found a market willing to pay for electronic books. Apple is also starting to sell subscriptions to bundles of music, video and images from certain bands, like Depeche Mode. This is technically a product of the Music store, not the App store, but it still shows how people may be willing to pay for various bundles of content online
There is a lot of work to do here. For example, I find the O’Reilly iPhone book a little hard to use. The text doesn’t seem particularly well-formatted for the iPhone page. And I would love to see more interactive features that utilize the phone interface (including some of David’s videos).
Andrew Savikas, O’Reilly’s vice president for digital initiatives, agrees with me, saying that the iPhone manual was rushed to get it out before Christmas. The company now has 20 titles in development for the iPhone (and eventually other mobile phones), and it is spending more time weaving in hyperlinks and adding other features.
“There is a lot more we can do to take advantage of this as a new medium,” he said. O’Reilly, which sells to a lot of early adopters, has a range of digital distribution media.
“We try to say all of our writing is writing for the Web, and all of our publishing is digital publishing, so all our focus is building things into the content that make it more friendly to be digital,” he said.
Before media companies rejoice that Apple has found a way to persuade a generation used to getting everything free on the Web to pay for some content, they should look a bit more closely at O’Reilly’s experience with the iPhone manual.
The book, which sells for $24.99, was initially offered as an iPhone app for $4.99. When the publisher raised the price to $9.99, sales fell 75 percent. O’Reilly quickly dropped the price back down to the lower level.
“This audience is very price sensitive,” Mr. Savikas said.
So even if all content doesn’t have to be free, it may well have to be cheap.
Since the App Store launched, there hasn't been much that has really tempted me to jailbreak my iPhone. I don't think Mini vMac for iPhone actually will either, but just that fact that it exists at all is a trip for the nostalgic Macheads out there. Mini vMac is an open source Mac Plus emulator that has now been ported to the iPhone (a regular OS X version exists as well).
It emulates a 4MB Mac Plus; as the video above shows, it allows you to scroll to show the full display and even load Mac OS disk images and run classic Mac software. It's safe to say that this will never make to the App Store because it violates Apple's rules against emulators.
Mini vMac for iPhone requires a jailbroken iPhone, and can be loaded by adding the namedfork.net repository to the Cydia installer as described on the main page. You'll also have to round up a Mac Plus ROM image and disk images of any applications you want to run.
Pinch Media, who provide metrics/analytics for iPhone users recently gave a presentation on “AppStore Secrets” that highlighted what they’re seeing in terms of free vs. ad supported vs. paid, and usage patterns over time.
They try to provide developers with some useful number crunching on how and when to determine if their application is “sticky” and modulate price and ad support, but they also show some things that are interesting from the user perspective:
We don’t use free apps that much. Sure, we download them by the gigabyte-full, but after a few tries, it’s buh-bye. If we pay for it, we probably need/want it more, and hence use it more.
We keep using games longer than any other type of app.
Things rings true for me. Of all the apps I’ve downloaded (and they’ve been many, free and paid), about the only ones I use consistently are casual games and communication clients (IM, Twitter, etc.) The rest of the time, I’m using built-in apps like Safari, Email, iPod, etc. And even among those “sticky” apps, when I’ve had my fill of one game, I move on to another. When a new Twitter or IM client comes out, I switch to it (and sometimes switch back and forth).
What about you? Do you stop using free apps faster than paid? And what apps do you keep using?
In its filing with the Copyright Office a few days ago, Apple argued that restricting the iPhone to run only software from the iTunes App Store is great for application creators. Apparently, they didn't mean the creators of South Park, whose app has been rejected multiple times:
We first announced our iPhone App back in October, after we submitted the Application to Apple for approval. After a couple of attempts to get the application approved, we are sad to say that our app has been rejected. According to Apple, the content was "potentially offensive." But Apple did admit that the standards would evolve, citing that when iTunes first launched it didn't sell any music with explicit lyrics. At this point, we are sad to say, the app is dead in the water. Sorry, South Park fans.
This is particularly ironic, as episodes of South Park are available through the iTunes Store. And, for that matter, on basic cable.
The South Park app joins a growing list of other applications (many listed in EFF's reply comment to the Copyright Office) that have been barred from the Apple App Store for a variety of stated (or unstated) reasons.
Apple is welcome to exclude applications from its App Store for whatever reasons it likes. But if competition is to work, then customers must have the freedom to choose another store. In other words, the problem here is the technical restrictions that prevent iPhone owners from being able to shop elsewhere. That is precisely why a DMCA exemption is in order, so that iPhone owners can go elsewhere for the applications that Apple refuses to include in its App Store.
Mozilla Corp. is backing a move that would nullify copyright infringement charges against people who "jailbreak" their iPhones, a practice that Apple Inc. considers against the law.
In comments submitted to the U.S. Copyright Office, the maker of Firefox said it supports the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) in its request for an exemption to the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA). The EFF wants the Copyright Office to let users jailbreak their phones without fear of copyright infringement penalties.
Apple opposes the exemption, and in its own filing with the Copyright Office, has said that jailbreaking is a violation of copyright laws that protect its software.
"This is not us criticizing Apple," Mozilla CEO John Lilly said in an interview on Monday. "But it's the principle of the thing. Choice is good for users, and choice shouldn't be criminalized. The Internet is too important for all of us for that."
"Jailbreak" is the term used to describe circumventing the digital rights management (DRM) technology on a cell phone so that the user can install third-party applications not authorized by the phone's maker or the mobile carrier. The term was popularized by iPhone owners after several groups of programmers figured out how to hack the first-generation iPhone's operating system.
Although it never mentioned the iPhone by name in its comments, Mozilla made no bones about the danger it sees if a company like Apple is the sole gatekeeper of a smartphone. "By controlling the software that can be installed on these cellular phones, these companies can limit and control the type of programs and functionality that is available to users of their devices," Mozilla's general counsel, Harvey Anderson, wrote in the comments submitted to the Copyright Office.
Anderson said that the DRM technology used to prevent people from installing software has a "chilling effect on users and innovation" because they are afraid that jailbreaking their phones is illegal.
He went on to argue that smartphones are akin to a computer, and because they can be used to access the Internet, should not be limited to the software authorized by the handset maker and/or the mobile service provider. "These devices contain Internet Web browser, and are therefore effectively users' doorway to the Internet -- a public commons," Anderson said. "Consumers should be entitled to use any software program they choose to access the Internet."
Apple includes a version of its own Safari browser on the iPhone, and decides which third-party applications can be downloaded from its App Store online mart, the only authorized distribution channel. In the past, Apple has rejected programs it says duplicate its own iPhone software, a notion that is reportedly spelled out in the iPhone's software development kit (SDK) licensing agreement. So far, no major rival to Safari has been offered to users through the App Store.
Apple's iPhone beats out a desktop computer in some important areas for me. I've even gotten into the habit of grabbing my iPhone instead of jumping onto my computer for various tasks. Here are 10 things I'd rather do on an iPhone than my desktop.
1. Weather. When I want to know the weather, it is just quicker to check my iPhone than find the Mac widget or dial up weather.com.
2. GPS Maps. If I want to do some local area mapping, it is much easier firing up the Maps app and hitting the little blue button on the lower left than firing up a browser and a maps bookmark or Google Earth then inputting the current location. More complex mapping operations may require more work by the computer. This might change if Snow Leopard has Core Location functionality.
3. SMS and Phone. I know I am being a bit 'Captain Obvious' here but with Skype and SIP apps on the Mac, I often use the computer to make calls and send SMS messages. That being said, when I want to do any of things, my tendency is to reach for the iPhone first.
4. Facebook. The iPhone Facebook app is great and a great way to cure 5 minutes of boredom. Sure you can do more with the regular webpage, but its all right there on the iPhone.
5. Music. At work I have my whole music collection both on my iTunes and my iPhone. I reach for the iPhone first for some reason. Perhaps it is the ability to walk around with my music on the iPhone. It certainly isn't a chore to listen to music on the iPhone (Which Steve Jobs called "The best iPod we've ever made")
6. Checking Email. I naturally reach for my iPhone when I want to check my email. It's pretty quick and easy and I have the first 5 lines of the email in the subject line so I don't have to open most of them. If I want to write an email, I definitely head over to my desktop.
7. Contacts/Addressbook. The Contact and Addressbok in the iPhone works well enough that I haven't opened the Addressbook on my desktop in a few months.
8. Gaming. I actually enjoy gaming on the iPhone more than on my Mac. It may be purely psychological or maybe I enjoy the ability to take the game on the road with me, but when I want to play a quick game (GL Golf is my current favorite) I head to the iPhone.
9. Notes. I take most of my important notes when I am on the road so when I need to get to them, they are on my iPhone. It would be nice if Apple let me sync my stickies and my iPhone notes. Until then, they are on my iPhone.
10. Twitter. I use Tapulous to let those around me know what's up and where I am. Again, this is more about the GPS Core Location functionality than the App being better than my desktop client. It certainly takes more time to enter the data into my iPhone than it does the computer...and I can't cut and paste URLs either.
As Apple ramps up the capabilities, processor and screen of the iPhone, more and more computing tasks will be offloaded from my main machine. Am I alone? What do you use your mobile for that you once used primarily on your traditional computer?
(Fortune Small Business) -- A year ago, Ge Wang didn't own an iPhone and had no plans to start a company. Today Wang, an associate music professor at Stanford, is co-founder of Smule, a startup that sells musical applications for the iPhone.
Smule's hottest program, Ocarina, is billed as the first musical instrument for the iPhone. For 99 cents, users can make flutelike music by blowing into the microphone and fingering on-screen "holes." This past November, Ocarina was the best-selling iPhone app in the U.S. and 10 other countries. Wang says the product made "hundreds of thousands of dollars" in its first month, even after the 30% cut that Apple (AAPL, Fortune 500) takes on all iPhone software sold through its store.
Wang founded Smule last June with Jeff Smith, a veteran of two successful Silicon Valley startups. Smule's seven full-time employees and seven part-timers have developed four iPhone applications so far.
"You don't need to be a big development company," Wang says. "It doesn't take a lot of time to try ideas on this thing." Ocarina was built in just two weeks.
Selling via the iPhone store "can make you some serious money in a short space of time," agrees Iain Gillot, president of iGR Inc., a wireless-technology research company. "But there's a danger of becoming a one-hit wonder and not being able to sustain a company."
Wang is working on more apps, convinced that the market will grow in tough economic times. "In a downturn," he says, "people will stay home and buy $1 apps for their iPhones."
Companies finally working together to bring popular video app to iPhone
Despite a number of setbacks, Adobe is still working to bring Flash to the iPhone and it now seems that the company's biggest obstacle, Apple, has been overturned.
Speaking at the World Economic Forum in Switzerland, Adobe CEO Shantanu Narayen revealed that Adobe was collaborating with Apple to bring out a Flash version for the iPhone through the company's SDK.
He did insist, however, that they were still some way off a finished product, saying to Bloomberg Television: "It's a hard technical challenge, and that's part of the reason Apple and Adobe are collaborating."
On a more optimistic note, Narayen revealed that it was now up to Adobe to create a viable Flash platform, insisting: "The ball is in our court. The onus is on us to deliver."
Too slow
Apple has not allowed Flash to work legitimately on its iPhone, as it believes that the full software is too slow and the Lite version of Flash, according to Steve Jobs, "isn't capable enough to be used with the web."
The news that Apple is now collaborating with Adobe to bring a version of the software out for the iPhone is promising for Adobe – who last year saw its share price cut in half.
Flash is currently available on around 800 million mobile phone handsets in the world and is completely dominant in the online video market, as it's installed on 98 per cent of all computers.
In the early days of PCs, anybody with a computer and a good idea could make stacks of money from writing software.
Those days are long gone - unless, that is, you're writing iPhone apps.
There's gold in them there iPhones, it seems. So how do you get it?
We asked three successful developers to spill the beans.
Steve Demeter, Trism
In September, Wired suggested that Steve Demeter's puzzle game Trism would turn over $2 million by the summer. It's a story Demeter has come to regret. "Releasing sales figures was a bit of a novice business move on my part," he says. "I've been swamped with people asking for loans and donations!"
After just two months of Trism sales, Demeter was able to leave his day job writing software for a large bank. "It's been surreal more than anything else," he says. "I had put myself under such pressure to polish and release the game on time, I had burnt myself out two or three times by the time I finished coding. I was running on fumes, exhausted, and numb."
Demeter is quick to agree that part of Trism's success was being in the right place at the right time, although it wasn't all luck - "It's not like my cat walked over the keyboard and out popped a game," he says.
That said, "Trism was the combination of one, getting everything done before launch; two, having a good amount of buzz from people who enjoyed the jailbroken version... and three, Apple getting behind it and helping market it as an iPhone exclusive. Once you have Apple behind you saying 'here, apps like this are why you should buy an iPhone', it's money in the bank."
So has the environment changed? "The market is definitely a lot tougher than it was then," Demeter says. His advice? "Make sure you're asking yourself, 'does my app convey something unique and interesting in ten to fifteen seconds?
"Look at it this way: most people show up to work, or school, or whatever, and they are eager to show their friends what cool new things they've got on their iPhone. Of the 50 apps they may have on their iPhone, they may only get a chance to show five of them to their friends. If your app is one of those five, and it can prove its worth in ten to fifteen seconds, then you've got yourself a successful app."
Marketing matters, too, as Demeter explains. "Start courting an audience before you release," he suggests. "Build relationships with the gaming public and fellow developers. Make sure you can get at least 20 people to buy your game and give you good reviews of your app in the App Store on the very first day it's out. Once that happens, take your app around to review sites. Be polite, even if you get a bad review. And remember to put some of your profit back into advertising - on the web and in-game."
The success of Trism has enabled Demeter to set up development firm Demiforce, which is preparing to launch Onyx, an Xbox Live-style gaming service for the iPhone. "We'll be making an announcement about Onyx soon," he says. "Other than that, I'm just trying to get my life back."
"The one think I really liked about doing Trism was that on top of being a game, it was an opportunity. It was a chance to pull myself out of a day job I didn't like, innovate a game genre and trailblaze an emerging platform, all with limited amounts of time, resources and money.
"Opportunities like this are really interesting - seeing how far I can go with what I have, and showing the world that the determination of an indvidual can make a difference. These opportunities may be on the App Store, they may not be - but you will see me seeking them out for some time to come."
Ethan Nicholas, iShoot
iShoot started life as an after-hours project. "It wouldn't have been so bad if I hadn't already had a full time job," says Nicholas, who was working long hours for Sun Microsystems and coding in his spare time. "I was working eighteen hour days during iShoot's development, but [despite that] it only took six weeks from start to finish - and that includes learning Objective C, Cocoa and OpenGL."
When iShoot took off, Nicholas handed in his notice. So does he spend his days rolling around on piles of money, giggling like a loon? "So far, not much has changed," he says. "I spent the past four years working from home, so I'm still at the same desk, the same computer. Honestly, I don't think the magnitude of the change has really sunk in. I haven't even managed to take any time off yet."
iShoot was initially offered as a paid download, but sales were hardly stellar. When Nicholas introduced the free iShoot Lite, though, sales of the paid app went into orbit. "A picture is worth a thousand words," Nicholas says, handing us a graph showing iShoot sales from its release in October to hitting number one on 11 January. Things got very interesting very quickly when the free version hit the App Store.
Does Nicholas have any advice other than offering a free version to promote your paid apps? "How about 'stop producing so much shovelware'?" he asks. "One number one hit generates more money than one hundred bottom-of-the-barrel apps, so I'd prefer to see more people striving for number one and not polluting the iPhone with so much abominable crap."
For now, Nicholas is continuing to improve iShoot - "online multiplayer support is the next big thing there," he says - but he's got plenty of other irons in the fire. "I'm not ready to share any details, but I have two firm game designs I'd like to get cracking on," he says. "They are very different from iShoot, but I think they both have a shot at number one."
Bill Rappos, iSteam
"Steam simulator" iSteam has racked up more than 1 million downloads to date. Just one week after its launch Great Apps, iSteam's developers, predicted sales of $100,000 per month. We asked Great Apps' Bill Rappos, how's that going?
"The 100 grand was only an estimation we made, based on our first week sales. The way things are right now, it seems we are going to hit that target a couple of weeks later than our initial predictions."
That doesn't mean things are going badly, though. "The success of iSteam has given us the luxury to make long-term plans," Rappos says. "iSteam was just the beginning. We are all really committed to our vision, to become a significant player in the App Store providing a wide range of amusing and cheap apps."
Great Apps is barely three months old, and was founded in November by 24-year-old Kostas Eleftheriou and 22-year-old Vassilis Samolis. They thought the App Store would be a great opportunity, but they didn't know anything about Mac or iPhone development - so they bought a Mac Mini and got to work.
It didn't take long. The team's first "test" iPhone app, Comet Buster, was released in November; iSteam hit the App Store at the end of December. "Coding the initial version of iSteam only took seven days," Rappos says. "One of our project selection criteria is to minimise risks by not spending lots of man hours on a single project."
The team is currently brainstorming its next selection of apps. Does Rappos have any advice for other developers? "There is no easy way in the App Store," he says. "It is saturated with apps, which makes it really hard to survive. Our tip would be, keep it simple and be professional."
Unlike Steve Jobs and the Apple fanboy cult, I don't have my iPhone attached to my hip.
I know it's hard to believe but sometimes I take showers, or (gasp) turn off my phone -- especially when I go to the movies. Sometimes I even go to sleep!
When those rare occasions happen and I do not hear (or see) my phone ringing, I would like my iPhone to act like every other cellphone in the world and chirp or beep or make a sound to notify me that someone called or someone left a voice mail.
Since Jobs & Co. didn't find it necessary to include this basic feature in either of their two models of phones, we are stuck waiting for such an improvement in the App Store, but, alas, there is nothing out there to solve this simple and universal problem.
The Internet has noticed.
In September 2007 someone with the handle "reptile247" posted this message in the ModMyi forum: "Does anyone have a Missed Call Reminder App in development?"
Six months later, "posborn" posted a similar message on the everythingiCafe message board. "Anyone know of a program that will serve as a missed call/voice mail reminder? I know I can just turn the phone on to see what I have missed but sometimes I step out of the office and when I come back I don't remember to turn the phone on to see if I have missed something."
There is an app or two floating around for those who have "jailbroken" their devices, but doesn't it seem crazy that you'd have to do something that dramatic in order to have a feature that's an afterthought on any cellphone produced after 1989?
And if Apple were really smart, they'd tie it to one of the thousands of songs resident in the iPhone. Heck, tie it to the ringtones if they really wanted to milk us for a few more shekels. But for Pete's sake, this is the coolest, smartest phone ever; let us know when we missed a call while we were in the hot tub.
For many gamers, the iPhone is the first mobile platform with videogames that are actually worth playing. The gadget's winning combination of touchscreen and motion controls means games can be much more intuitive and fun than if you were trying to play with a regular phone's tiny keypad.
Perhaps more importantly, Apple's unique approach to game distribution — allowing anyone to produce and sell games through iTunes for a nominal fee — has caused the App Store to virtually explode with software. Apple has sold more than 20 million iPhones, plus countless more iPod Touch music players, giving the devices enormous reach as a gaming platform.
We wanted to write a list of our favorite iPhone (and iPod Touch) games, but we knew it couldn't possibly be comprehensive or definitive. But these 10 games are the highest-quality ones we have played so far, the ones that are definitely worth downloading.
We're sure that you brilliant Wired.com readers have your own favorite iPhone games — probably some we haven't even heard of. At the end of this article, you can nominate and vote for your own favorite iPhone games.
Best Guilty Pleasure: Yahtzee Adventures ($3)
I am positively mortified to admit it, but I can't stop playing this. Yes, Yahtzee is a game of rolling dice and hoping that you land a high-scoring combination. Only the barest of skill is required, and playing against an emotionless machine should not be nearly as fun as playing against a roomful of friends. And yet somehow I haven't been able to stop. The fact that you can pass around the iPhone to play it with up to four friends makes it an ideal time-killer for groups, and new modes like Rainbow (with colored dice!) add variety. Oh, I am so ashamed.
Best Use of Space Ducks and Donuts: Newtonica 2 ($1)
I'm friends with this game's designer. I say that in the interest of full disclosure. Also to brag, because Newtonica 2 is really fun. You're a duck, adrift in space. You tap little circles that push the duck into the void, in hopes of pushing him into a safety vortex. And you collect donuts, which are usually placed in inconvenient spots that make it that much harder to find your way. It starts off easy, but gets quite tricky. Passed all the puzzles? Get the sequel, Newtonica 2 Resort, for another buck.
Best Indie Game Sensation: Crayon Physics Deluxe ($5)
The PC version of this game, in which you draw objects using a virtual crayon that comes to life and has real-world physical properties, took home the grand prize at last year's Independent Games Festival. The object of each level is to roll a red ball into a yellow star. How are you going to do it? You're limited only by your ability to draw. You can solve the puzzles with simple shapes, or draw elaborate ones. Draw one, draw 10. Drawing with your finger on the iPhone's screen rather than with a mouse takes a bit of getting used to, but it works quite well.
Best Game That Shouldn't Have Worked: SimCity ($10)
When Electronic Arts announced a port of SimCity for the iPhone, I was a bit scared. Not only is the series vastly more complex than most iPhone games, it has always required at least a gamepad, and more often than not a keyboard and mouse. Luckily, those fears were unfounded — EA managed to translate all the game's controls into an easy-to-learn series of finger taps and swipes. Everything from designing complex highway systems to destroying buildings with an impromptu alien attack is literally just a touch away. The complexities of running a virtual metropolis keep this title from being a casual, pick-up-and-play iPhone game, but for those looking for something to suck away hours of their life on long flights, SimCity is the perfect solution.
Best Game Clearly Inspired By Rez: Edge ($6)
If I didn't know any better, I'd say Edge was designed by the team that gave us Rez and Lumines. It's not. But the thumping techno soundtrack combined with the Tron-style graphics bring back that old feeling. Your job is to roll a cube through levels filled with peril, picking up gleaming pixels and reaching the exit of each level. You can choose between swiping the screen or tilting the phone to move — I found swiping to be much more accurate, especially considering that pitfalls await all over the place.
Best Game That'll Be Gone Soon: GW Helmet (Free)
Hey, remember the Game & Watch handheld, Nintendo's first big hit product? Those little LCD games oozed charm from their liquid crystals, and the cute graphics belied some occasionally maddening gameplay. GW Helmet is a pitch-perfect ripoff of one of the originals, where you have to guide an infinite number of unlucky hard-hat guys across a construction site where tools and buckets are raining from the sky. You'd swear somebody took an old Game & Watch and shoved it into your iPhone. You'd also swear that these G&W clones are likely to be the target of a C&D from Nintendo, meaning you should download these now — besides Helmet, there's Fire, Octopus, Chef and Parachute, although the latter titles cost $2 each. The very topical Bank Panic ($1) has the benefit of looking like a Game & Watchtitle but not actually infringing upon Nintendo's copyrights.
Best Game in an Inexplicably Crowded Genre: Field Runners ($5)
Simplicity is the key feature of the iPhone's best games, and what could be more simple than a game that is almost entirely described by its two-word title? Field Runners sees an endless stream of enemies running across a field toward your base. To ensure peace in your base, you strategically place deadly weaponry in their path. That's the entire game. The App Store is lousy with "tower defense" games, and with good reason: The balancing act of deciding whether your forces would be better served with a simple machine gun or the more expensive electric zapper as your enemies become more numerous and more tenacious is pure addictive fun. As an added bonus, no Field Runners level lasts more than a minute, making the game a perfect fit for short bus trips or waiting in line at the post office. If you prefer a Final Fantasy flavor with your tower defense, try Square Enix's Crystal Defenders ($8).
Best Game About Unrealistic Surgery: Dr. Awesome ($1)
Being a doctor is, in fact, awesome. Judging from this game, it mostly has to do with playing a motion-controlled version of arcade classic Qix. You're moving a cursor around the playfield, trying to section off segments of some unidentified part of a patient's anatomy while avoiding evil, killer bacteria. Once you slice away enough of the infected area, the infection can't go on living. Later levels up the challenge by introducing faster-moving foes that home in on your cursor, forcing you to get better at tilting your iPhone with surgical precision. Dr. Awesome even uses your phone's contact list to populate its cast of patients. Because it feels that much worse when your friends die on the table.
Best Port of a Game You Already Have: Bejeweled 2 ($3)
If Tetris is the videogame equivalent of Beethoven's "Symphony No. 9," the Bejeweled series is Abbey Road. Since debuting in 2004, the game's simple, newbie-friendly "match three gems" gameplay has addicted tens of millions of gamers by virtue of its gentle learning curve and subtle complexity. The latest iteration of the series, a port of Bejeweled 2 for the iPhone, perfectly re-creates the series' trademark gameplay with touchscreen controls. Unlike other games with glitchy, rushed iPhone versions, Bejeweled works perfectly. Whether you prefer the slow, methodical gameplay of Classic Mode or the tension of Action Mode's ticking clock, Bejeweled 2 translates perfectly to iPhone.
Best Improvement on Someone Else’s Game: Rolando ($6)
You don't have to say it: Rolando looks and feels exactly like Sony's PSP game Loco Roco, from the cartoony blobs of color to the very gameplay, which involves tilting the world around to roll said blobs of color to safety. But Rolando has more depth to its gameplay. Some blobs roll; others stick to the walls. Some bounce around of their own accord, and you must figure out how to save them from spazzing out into hazards. Tons of levels make this one of the few iPhone games that is more involved experience than casual diversion.
The news that Apple is beginning to approve third-party browsers could open the door to iPhone versions of Firefox or Opera.
Apple had previously not allowed any obvious browsers through its vetting procedure, although the likes of Twitterific did have a simple browser included.
Mozilla would likely be the biggest beneficiary should Apple allow a version of the popular Firefox to appear on the App store, although the likes of Opera, Google Chrome and, whisper it, even Microsoft's Internet Explorer could feasibly be offered as well.
The open-source Firefox program is currently making major inroads into IE's dominance in the browser arena for computing – moving past the 20% mark, with Apple's Safari, Chrome and Opera also taking a percentage of the market.
Safari is currently the default browser for the iPhone, but unless Apple is going to institute one rule for one and another for the major players then its dominance even on the company's handset could begin to decline.
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