[News] Google Play Store claims 700,000 apps available for Android devices

Anyone who knows anything about mobile knows that it all boils down to the apps.  Gaming is great, e-readers are nice, but the saying isn't "There's an app for that" for nothing.  People want (and demand) quality, usable apps for their mobile devices.  Apple leads the way in this area, but according to Google, as of this week, the Play Store isn't far behind.  As of December 2010, Google Play noted that they had over 200,000 apps, which means that significant growth has come in Android apps in a relatively short period of time.

Now again, quality and usability come into play here, but with that many apps, it shouldn't be too hard to find something good.  With quality crossovers from iOS to Android such as Flipboard, Instagram (now owned by Facebook) and the ever popular Angry Birds franchise, one has to search pretty hard to find something on an iPhone that doesn't have an equally as good counterpart on Android.  Google also announced a deal with Warner Music Group (see details here) to bring even more content to their Play Store.  Things are looking up for Google this week for sure.

*Source:  Droid-Life

[Apps] Angry Birds Meet Star Wars

If you're anything like me, then you love to game on your phone or mobile device. And without a doubt Angry Birds is the most well known mobile gaming franchise. Nowadays it seems that you can't even get away from those silly birds and piggies.

Do you like Angry Birds? Yes? Do you also like Star Wars? Yes also? Well guess what? Rovio just announced their newest installment of the Angry Birds franchise. Those mischievous little birds are upgrading those dated slingshots with an incredible saber-sling-shot sort of thing.

Photo courtesy of angrybirds.tumblr.com

On November 8th Rovio will release Angry Birds Star Wars.

Check out the quick teaser.

Angry Birds tumblr page will have new content each day leading up to the date so check it at your leisure. here's the link. Angry Birds Tumblr

[Op-Ed] Software, apps, and the mobile revolution

Let me tell you a story...once upon a time, there was the PC.  And computer engineers made things called software for these PCs, and life was good.  Then came this thing called the "smartphone" and there was a need to get software onto the smartphone.  And so this software had to change and, when it did, it became something called "apps" and the mobile revolution had begun.

With most of the features of a computer in the palm of people's hands, there was less and less need to be tied to software on a desktop computer, or even a conventional laptop.  And so companies were born that began from ideas that were based solely around mobile computing.  Slowly, other companies began to follow this example and came to realize the power of what mobile apps in the hands of the consumer could do for them.  This trend towards operating in a mobile environment for business has only accelerated in the last 5 years, and will likely continue into the foreseeable future.