Get Better Gear!

Premier Sponsors

TechRestore

Other World Computing

Top 5 Free Apps

Sheep Launcher Free!
Kronos Games
Release Date: August 05, 2009
Genre: Games
Boxed In
Dennis Mengelt
Release Date: May 22, 2009
Genre: Games
Ninjas Live
Storm8
Release Date: August 29, 2009
Genre: Games
Bump
Bump Technologies LLC
Release Date: March 27, 2009
Genre: Social Networking
Discovery Channel
Discovery Channel
Release Date: August 07, 2009
Genre: Entertainment

iTunes New Music Releases

Black Gives Way To Blue
Alice In Chains
Release Date: September 29, 2009
Genre: Rock
Backspacer
Pearl Jam
Release Date: September 20, 2009
Genre: Alternative
The Resistance
Muse
Release Date: September 15, 2009
Genre: Alternative
Awake (Deluxe Version)
Skillet
Release Date: August 25, 2009
Genre: Rock
Ellipse (Deluxe Version)
Imogen Heap
Release Date: August 25, 2009
Genre: Alternative

Top 5 Paid Apps

The Moron Test $0.99
DistinctDev
Release Date: April 22, 2009
Genre: Entertainment
StickWars $0.99
John E. Hartzog
Release Date: March 31, 2009
Genre: Games
Bloons $0.99
Digital Goldfish Ltd
Release Date: April 05, 2009
Genre: Games

Discover New Music

  • The Stooges

    • 8 out of 10
    • The Stooges

    • Another pillar of my musical foundations, The Stooges' first album is one those records whose influence far outweighed its popularity. Like The Velvet Underground & Nico, hordes of people wh

  • With Teeth

    • 4 out of 10
    • Nine Inch Nails

    • In the sprawling post-A&R rock and roll world, there are two camps: the Beatles and the Stones. The Beatles are the artists that like to explore, evolve, and change styles. The Stones are the artis

  • Plans

    • 8 out of 10
    • Death Cab for Cutie

    • With the introduction of Plans, Death Cab for Cutie became a new addition to many user's Artist list after the single "Soul Meets Body" became a hit on iTunes. Offering a fresh alternativ

  • Bowie at Beeb: Best of BBC Radio 68-72

    • 10 out of 10
    • David Bowie

    • The companion CD to a BBC television concert, BBC Radio Theatre has some of the best renditions of many of Bowie's best songs throughout his career. "I'm Afraid of Americans" is substantial

  • An Evening with George Shearing & Mel Torm�

    • 10 out of 10
    • Mel Torm� & George Shearing
    • Of the three men who taught me how to sing, the last was Mel Torme. Apparently, Mel Torme is a joke to anyone more than a decade older than me, a living parody of a Vegas crooner. But I stumbled on th

Reader Specials

Visit Deals On The Web for the best deals on all consumer electronics, iPods, and more!

iPhone

Apple Announces In-App Subscription Model for iPhone App

Tuesday, March 17th, 2009 at 1:31 PM - by Bryan Chaffin

Apple announced Tuesday a new subscription model for iPhone apps the company is calling In-App Subscriptions. The model allows developers to charge for additional content, including such things as new levels for a game, additional cities for a city guide, or renewing one's subscription to a magazine, all from within the app without having to return to the App Store.

The company made the announcement at its iPhone 3.0 preview event in Cupertino. According to Engadget, Apple executive Scott Forstall also stressed that the subscription model would only be available in paid applications, thus preventing users from being tricked into downloading "free" apps whose content has to be unlocked.

The subscription system will use iPhone's standard popup windows, and subscription/new content charges will go through your iTunes account. Apple will use the same revenue split as with any other iPhone app where the developer gets 70% of revenue, and Apple keeps the other 30%, out of which the company pays all fees associated with selling the app.

2 comments from the community.

You can post your own below.

webjprgm said:

March 17th, 2009 at 2:06 PM

So it’s probably a good thing that free apps remain free, but there’s still no way to implement shareware.  There ought to be a third category, then, which is clearly differentiated in the iTunes store as shareware, which can use the same in-app purchase model to unlock the full version. 

At present, game developers often have to release a ‘Lite’ version and a full, paid version to get around this issue.  Well, maybe that’s OK. What do you all think? I think I’d check out a lot more apps if there was a trial period or more apps had ‘Lite’ versions.  But if every app had a ‘lite’ version it would make the list of apps longer with all those duplicates.

Also, does anyone else find it scary to think of all the ways developers are going to find to charge us for things?  Did you see the TouchPets demo where they charged a buck (?) for a “shirts pack”?  I don’t like that idea.  It’s fine to do something like Half Life 2’s episodes, but I don’t want to be asked to pay a dollar every 5-10 levels.  I hope this in-app purchasing model is not abused.

   Quote

D9 said:

March 17th, 2009 at 2:06 PM

Gosh, what a brilliant solution Apple has developed for itself. Not only has the App Store proven to be the “killer app” for the iPhone, but now they’ve provided themselves with a means to have a continuous cash stream not only for developers, which entices them, but for Apple itself…all without the need to increase prices or raise selling percentages.

I can see why Microsoft and others could care less that they’re copying the App Store for their phone solutions…it’s perfect for a means to promote and profit off your hardware sales!

/

   Quote

Page 1 of 1 pages

Post Your Comments

  Remember Me  Forgot your password?

Not a member? Register now. You can post comments without logging in, but they'll show up as a "guest" post.

Commenting is not available in this section entry.