After only four days of being available, the Apple iPhone SDK has been downloaded over 100,000 times by developers, said the company.
A few of the more notable developers that are now working on titles are Electronic Arts, THQ, PopCap, Namco, id Software and Sega.
“Developer reaction to the iPhone SDK has been incredible with more than 100,000 downloads in the first four days,” said Philip Schiller, Apple’s senior vice VP of Worldwide Product Marketing.
“Also, over one million people have watched the launch video on Apple.com, further demonstrating the incredible interest developers have in creating applications for the iPhone.”
The SDK is free for all to download and Apple has also launched the App Store which will allow would-be developers to deliver applications and games directly to iPhone and iPod Touch users.
“The iPhone is the mobile platform game developers have been dreaming of,” said Scott Zerby, vice president, of THQ Wireless.
“We’re looking at how we can use the iPhone’s innovative user interface to create new game experiences for our big brand entertainment partners that consumers love.”
Result for: Downloads
The results of a study from ABI Research on the affects of age on technology use show an interesting, and perhaps somewhat unexpected trend. It’s no shock to find that people age 65 and older are less likely to use things like Video on Demand (VOD) or game consoles than those between 18 and 25. What may surprise you is that people in the older demographic may be just as likely to adopt new technology once they try it out.
For example, the study found that although only 35% of people age 65 or higher have used VOD, compared to double that number between the ages of 25 and 29, in both cases those who use it once typically continue to use it at least once a month afterward.
The results for console use were even more surprising. While market penetration in the 18-25 demographic saw no growth over the last year, for those 65 and older there was a 200% increase. This may explain the trend toward increased gaming related sales offsetting falling home video revenue.
But there are still some technologies that don’t show any signs of appealing to the older crowd. Video downloads, while popular with very young people, isn’t showing any signs of popularity with even middle aged consumers.
According to ABI Research principal analyst Steve Wilson that’s likely a result of inherent flaws with the process. He says “The lack of wide video download popularity in all but the youngest group can very likely be attributed to inconsistencies in the process, a result of the industry’s immaturity.”
Result for: Downloads
According to an article in the Wall Street Journal, Dell Inc. will not bring a mini MP3 player to the market this year tied to online entertainment software before the holidays. The company has reportedly been testing a prototype of a mini-MP3 player that is based on the company’s Zing software. The MP3 player had been expected to show up sometime during the fall of 2008.
The Zing software is designed solely for entertainment content that is acquired over the Internet. It downloads and organized movie and music content. The Wall Street Journal cites a source familiar with the matter as saying the company has decided to hold off on releasing the music player indefinitely, but to continue to develop and push its Zing software project.
