Top iPhone, iPad apps on App Store

Apple app store official charts for the week ending February 18, 2013:

Top Paid iPhone Apps:

1. Clear Vision 2 (DPFLASHES STUDIO)

2. Minecraft – Pocket Edition (Mojang)

3. WhatsApp Messenger (WhatsApp Inc.)

4. Angry Birds Star Wars (Rovio Entertainment Ltd)

5. Wood Camera – Vintage Photo Editor (Bright Mango)

6. Fruit Ninja (Halfbrick Studios)

7. Plague Inc. (Ndemic Creations)

8. CraftedBattle (C-Apps)

9. Haze (Robocat)

10. Arms Cartel Global (Pixel Addicts)

Top Free iPhone Apps:

1. 4 Pics 1 Word (LOTUM GmbH)

2. Lazors (Pyrosphere)

3. iMadeFace (Keyloft LLC)

4. Temple Run 2 (Imangi Studios, LLC)

5. YouTube (Google, Inc.)

6. What’s the Word? – new quiz with pics and words (RedSpell)

7. Fast Camera (i4software)

8. Infinity Blade (Chair Entertainment Group, LLC)

9. Google Maps (Google, Inc.)

10. Ruzzle (MAG Interactive)

Top Paid iPad Apps:

1. Minecraft – Pocket Edition (Mojang)

2. Angry Birds Star Wars HD (Rovio Entertainment Ltd)

3. Pages (Apple)

4. Fionna Fights – Adventure Time (Cartoon Network)

5. Bad Piggies HD (Rovio Entertainment Ltd)

6. FIFA SOCCER 13 by EA SPORTS (Electronic Arts)

7. Trainz Driver – train driving game and realistic railroad simulator (N3V Games Pty Ltd)

8. Where’s My Perry? (Disney)

9. TETRIS for iPad (Electronic Arts)

10. The Room (Fireproof Games)

Top Free iPad Apps:

1. Infinity Blade (Chair Entertainment Group, LLC)

2. 4 Pics 1 Word (LOTUM GmbH)

3. Temple Run 2 (Imangi Studios, LLC)

4. YouTube (Google, Inc.)

5. Tiny Dentist (fantastoonic)

6. Calculator for iPad Free (International Travel Weather Calculator)

7. Candy Crush Saga (King.com Limited)

8. Skype for iPad (Skype Communications S.a.r.l)

9. Netflix (Netflix,Inc.)

10. What’s the Word HD (RedSpell)

Source: http://www.indianexpress.com/news/top-iphone-ipad-apps-on-app-store/1076938/0

Apple iPhone 5 behind 4 Android phones in user satisfaction: survey

Apple’s iPhone 5 ranks fifth behind four Android smartphones in user satisfaction, a new report has said. Mobile research firm OnDevice Research conducted a new survey, which covered 92,000 smartphone users, to determine how satisfied people are with their devices.

On a scale of 1-10 with the latter being the best, the Motorola Atrix HD ranked highest with a score of 8.57, the survey showed. According to the survey, the Motorola Droid Razr M trailed the Atrix with a grade of 8.5, Fox News reports. Following this was the HTC Rezound 4G at 8.32 and the Samsung Galaxy Note 2 at 8.26, the report said. According to the report, the iPhone 5 trailed the Note 2 by 0.03 with a score of 8.23. Those who participated in the survey also indicated that they were more satisfied with 4G devices (7.76) than non-4G enabled phones (7.28).

Source: http://www.indianexpress.com/news/apple-iphone-5-behind-4-android-phones-in-user-satisfaction-survey/1075883/

Leaked: Rumoured photos of components from future iPhones

Site that leaked images claims new iPhone 5S and iPhone 6 under development by Apple.

Photos of what are claimed to be speaker components for upcoming iPhones have leaked on the Web. No Where Else, a French website, posted the images stating that they belonged to the iPhone 5S and the iPhone 6. The site claims that the iPhone 5S will feature new hardware while using the same chassis as that of the iPhone 5, while the iPhone 6 will be a completely redesigned handset. The site further says that the iPhone 5S will be launched this summer while the iPhone 6 will be revealed next year.

However, the 9 to 5 Mac blog says that instead of a revamped iPhone 6, Apple will most probably launch the 5S and a cheaper iPhone. The blog also points out that developers have found clues pointing to a 128GB iOS device in the code of the iOS 6.1 beta that was recently released by Apple.

A number of rumours regarding new iPhones have surfaced recently. Some rumours point towards a high-end iPhone continuing with the same 4-inch display as the iPhone 5 along with a cheaper iPhone with the same dimensions. Other rumours talk about Apple developing a 5-inch iPhone along with a cheaper iPhone with a 4.8-in screen.

Looking at all these rumours, it seems highly likely that Apple will show at least one variant of the iPhone at WWDC 2013, that will be held in the summer.

Source: http://www.thinkdigit.com/Mobiles-PDAs/Leaked-Rumoured-photos-of-components-from-future_13229.html

Renderings tease what a 4.8-inch iPhone would look like

Apple took lots of flack for the design of the iPhone 5. The company’s decision to go taller instead of wider even spawned a meme or two. Would the company — quite literally — take that design to the next level?

The latest rumor says Apple is, in fact, eyeing an even larger screen for the iPhone, one that’s close to 5-inches in size, up big from the current 4-inch model.

Despite an earlier report today saying such a device wouldn’t see the light of day until 2014, Russian Apple news site Apple Digger has lovingly put together some renderings of one.

Chief among the changes is a sixth row for apps, one more than iPhone 5 users get, and two more than those on older devices. The mockups also show a device in different colors, a rumor that picked up earlier this month from an analyst note, along with an upgraded 12 megapixel camera on the back:

Given the all around thinness of this rumor, you’d be smart to not get too excited about seeing this thing in real life anytime soon, but boy are these renderings getting good.

source: http://news.cnet.com/8301-13579_3-57565297-37/renderings-tease-what-a-4.8-inch-iphone-would-look-like/

iPhone wins 51 percent of U.S. smartphone sales, says report

Apple snared more than 50 percent of U.S. smartphone sales last quarter, says Kantar, though Android remained dominant across Europe and the world.

Apple’s iOS continues to outshine Android, at least in the United States, according to data released today by Kantar Worldpanel ComTech.

For the final quarter of 2012, the iPhone won 51.2 percent of all U.S. smartphone sales. In second place, Android soaked up around 44.8 percent of U.S. sales, leaving Microsoft’s Windows Phone with 2.6 percent.

Apple’s flagship platform also scored well in Japan, proving tops among two-thirds of Japanese smartphone buyers.

“Apple’s continual improvement is thanks to both the iPhone 5 and older models attracting various customer groups, from repeat Apple buyers, first-time smartphone buyers. and those coming from other smartphone brands,” Kantar analyst Mary-Ann Parlato said in a statement.

Over the past year, 36 percent of iOS sales in the U.S. came from users of other smartphones, notably Android. The percentage of Android users jumping ship to the iPhone was 19 percent in 2012, compared with 9 percent in 2011, according to Kantar.

Verizon subscribers were especially eager to hop onto iOS. A full 59 percent of iPhone-buying Verizon customers came from other brand phones, while 30 percent had used Android specifically. In comparison, 15 percent of AT&T users who bought an iPhone jumped from a different platform, while only 6 percent were former Android users.

Among other iPhone buyers, 35 percent upgraded from a previous model, while 30 percent were buying their first smartphone, Kantar said.

Android is still No. 1 throughout the world, including key countries such as the U.K., China, Spain, Australia, and Germany, according to the report. But it’s lost some of its fire.

“At the end of 2012, the global OS picture shows Android on top, but clearly the rate of growth it experienced over the past year is beginning to slow as easy wins from first-time smartphone buyers begin to reduce,” Kantar analyst Dominic Sunnebo said in a statement.

Samsung is tops in the U.K., with 35 percent of smartphone sales last quarter. But Apple is catching up with 32 percent.

Finally, Microsoft’s Windows Phone is gaining some traction in Europe. For the quarter, Windows Phone won 5.9 percent of smartphone sales in Britain, up from 2.2 percent a year ago, and 13.9 percent in Italy, up from 2.8 percent the prior year.

“It has been far slower than Microsoft would have liked, but Windows Phone is now starting to gain respectable shares in a number of key European countries,” Sunnebo said. “However, its performance in the Chinese and U.S. markets remains underwhelming. As the two largest smartphone markets in the world, these remain key challenges for Microsoft to overcome during 2013.”

The data comes from Kantar Worldpanel ComTech USA’s consumer panel, which conducts more than 250,000 interviews per year in the United States. This report focused strictly on sales rather than market share.