• Apple Hires The Guy Behind MobileNotifier, A Jailbreak-only iOS Notifications System

    // Gradly // Apple, blog, Cydia, Download, Featured, iPhone, Jailbreak, News, Rants & Raves, Tech. No Responses

    Developer Peter Hajas has done amazing notification tweak for iOS devices MobileNotifier available in Cydia . The new tweak has soon evolved into a viable notification alternative.

    Recently, out of nowhere, Peter blogged about his departure from MobileNotifier, He said he was taking a break from MobileNotifier effective immediately and couldn’t mention why he was leaving:

    I’m taking a break from MobileNotifier and Widge for a while. I have other opportunities and priorities currently. I won’t be able to do much (if any) work on the projects, and I won’t have time to respond to many Tweets or emails. The project is in capable hands, with Kyle Adams, Tim Novinger and others (like Marc Easen) keeping things going. This is definitely not goodbye.

    I can’t say why, but it’s worth it. Trust me. If you look around hard enough, you’ll probably figure it out.

    I hope you guys understand, and I look forward to bringing you more awesome, great, free open source software in the future. Stay tuned for some amazing things!

    If you absolutely must get in touch with me, send me an email.
    Until then, stay hungry and stay foolish.

    Now, the interesting part of Peter’s post was the cryptic line about why he can’t say why he’s stopping work on MobileNotifier, but if we look around we’ll figure it out. Now, here’s the fun part.

    Steve Jobs’ speech at Standford, where he refers to the farewell message in the last edition of Whole Earth Catalogue, that read:

    Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish.

    By watching the historic video above, around 13:50, this apparently leaves us to think that he was hired by Apple actually.

    Later, the guys at RedmondPie was able to dig up an old deleted tweet by Hajas, that stated he was “off to work in CA at a ‘fruit’ company”.

    @brittaahh I’m glad you like it! I’ll see what I can do 🙂 I will be back for a few weeks, then I’m off to work in CA at a “fruit” company.

    More evidence kept rolling up as finally, Peter’s Facebook had been updated to show his current employment status as an “intern” with Apple Inc. as noticed by CrunchGear

    Peter’s hard work does pay off and got him noticed by Apple, well done.
    [Thanks iphoneincanada]

  • 500,000 iOS apps in the App Store and Counting

    // Gradly // Apple, blog, Featured, Infographic, News, Rants & Raves, Rumors 1 Response

    The App Store has apparently crossed 500,000 app approvals in two years and ten months since its inception. The news came from Chomp, 148apps and EA-owned games publisher Chillingo. They posted an awesome infographic which you can see below. According to Fortune’s Philip Elmer-DeWitt:

    Sometime after midnight Tuesday morning,  the iTunes team pushed through a batch of app submissions that sent the total over a six-figure milestone. In 34 months, Apple has approved more than 500,000 iPhone, iPad and iPod touch apps for the company’s U.S. store. (Through attrition, replacement and withdrawal, number of apps currently available for download is 20% lower, around 400,000.)

    To celebrate the event, three app-related companies — mobile app blog 148apps, search company Chomp and game developer Chillingo — have issued a jumbo-sized infographic, a portion of which is reproduced above. The fact-packed poster includes a timeline, loads of factoids and a best-seller list topped by Angry Birds, which spent 275 days in the No. 1 spot.

    As of January, more than 10 billion apps had been downloaded from Apple’s App Store. Its closest competitor, the Google Android Marketplace, launched 8 months later, currently boasts 294,000 apps and 3 billion app downloads.

  • Apple iPhone 4, App Store, iOS Games Awarded Guinness World Records

    // Gradly // Apple, blog, Games, iPhone, News 2 Responses

    Guinness World Records’ gaming editor, Gaz Deaves has released a list of newly awarded records. As the LA Times reports:

    The iPhone 4 was named the fastest-selling portable gaming system by Guinness after selling an estimated 1.5 million handsets on the first day it was released on June 24, 2010.

    Guinness also said Apple’s App Store is the most popular application marketplace:

    “With over 6.5 billion downloads since its launch in July 2008, the Apple App Store is the most popular downloadable app service in the world,” the world-record-tracking organization said.

    About 259,470 apps were available for purchase or free download as of September 2010, while about 50,000 other apps that were once available in the App Store have been discontinued, Guinness said.

    The App Store is also the largest downloadable video game store, with about 37,362 games available for download as of last September, Guinness said.

    The App Store was also given a world record for the largest launch lineup of any gaming system with more than 145 games available on July 10, 2008.

    Angry birds and other games have their own shares too:

    Angry Birds was recognized at the top paid-for App Store game in most countries, having sold more than 6.5 million downloads of the iOS version of the game since it was first released in December 2009.

    The Tap Tap Revenge game series, from game developer Tapulous, was cited as the most popular game series in App Store history, “having been downloaded more than 15 million times since the first game in the series was released in July 2008,” Guinness said. “Market research firm ComScore reports that the games have been installed by 32% of all iPhone/iPad users.”

  • Bungie: The Makers of Halo are Working on iOS MMO Called Crimson?

    // Gradly // Apple, blog, Games, News, Patents, Rants & Raves, Rumors 1 Response

    Bungie, the previously Mac-exclusive game developer who defected to the arms of Microsoft to release the best-selling Halo series, is making a new game… and it’s probably coming to iOS.

    First, some background. Around a year ago, Bungie was tipped to have started a new project, called Bungie Aerospace. Not much was known about it at the time, but it now appears to be a spin-off label of Bungie Studios proper, as the Halo-maker has just incorporated Bungie Aerospace in both Delaware and Washington.

    Even more interesting? Bungie Aerospace has just filed to secure a trademark for mobile devices, filing an application to own “Crimson” as a title of “computer game software for use on mobile and cellular phones.”

    What Crimson actually is anyone’s guess, but rumor has it that it’s a shooter MMO. Whether it’ll take place in the Halo-verse or not is anyone’s guess, but it would seem absolutely nuts for Bungie to make a mobile game and not release it on the most lucrative mobile platform out there.

    My gut says Bungie Aerospace and “Crimson” are connected to the studio’s next project, an original IP set to be published by Activision. Word on the street is that this game is a shooter MMO — an MMO that might just offer increased connectivity via mobile apps.

    In short, here’s what we know. Bungie Aerospace is likely Bungie Studios’ mobile studio. They’re working on a game called Crimson. And it’ll probably be available on the App Store. Let’s just hope this is the triumphant return — if not to Mac, then to Apple — that gamers have been waiting almost a decade for.

    [via cultofmac]